As the 2025-26 school year comes to a close, Western Washington University’s theatre arts program has come together to work on its final hurrah: Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”
“Into the Woods” is currently in production and opens Friday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. and its final show is Sunday, June 7, at 2 p.m.
“Into the Woods” is the first musical that Western has produced since “Ride the Cyclone” in November 2023, as a result of a three-year rotating program with the Music Department.
In this three-year rotation, the music and theatre department will produce a musical, an opera the following year, and then take a year off to discuss the departments’ collaboration and how to move forward. The Music Department provides the orchestra for the musical and the Theatre Arts program provides the production elements for the opera.
According to Rich Brown, Western’s Theatre and Dance Department chair, “Into the Woods” was chosen for this year's musical for the challenging aspect of Sondheim's musical composition, which allows plenty of opportunity for student development.
The show requires all hands on deck. The actors and orchestra must memorize difficult lines and music, as people in technical departments build the set, gather props and design costumes in time for opening night.
“The (costume) shop is the fullest we’ve ever had of just students coming in to work on a show, at least in my tenure here,” said Sarah Jo Monaghan, an assistant professor of Beginning Costume Design and Technology and the lead designer for “Into the Woods.”
Monaghan said that she’s been able to allow students to translate skills from their lives into their work in Western’s costume shop.
“We have a student who’s just building an elaborate cosplay wig for Rapunzel,” Monaghan said. “We have a lot of bug cosplayers and (are) finally getting a real show where we can really utilize those skills. That’s been awesome.”
From music to character work, actors can challenge themselves in many different ways. Heather Dudenbostel, the play’s director, said that watching them make it click is what inspires her.
“I’m so moved by them,” she said. “It takes so much bravery to go out and sing that challenging music and get all that text out.”
Most of her work as a professor, actor and director has been inspired by Sondheim. A self-proclaimed Sondheim specialist, directing a Sondheim musical is what makes her so emotional in the production process. She is familiar with the work the cast is doing and what they’re going through when learning and rehearsing.
Each character in “Into the Woods” endures heavy topics in unique ways. Both Celia Kiesz, who plays Little Red Riding Hood, and Ian McFarlane, who plays the Mysterious Man, have faced obstacles in their roles.
“There's something that’s revealed about him, and it’s been really interesting to play with how I build up to that without making it obvious,” McFarlane said.
McFarlane described the Mysterious Man as a person whose morals stay the same and is very straightforward. Kiesz said she feels similarly about her role, and that Little Red's straightforwardness adds an interesting tone to the symbolism in the events that occur in the show.
The creative team for Western’s “Into the Woods” has decided for the show to take place in the living room of a house; rather than the story taking place in the woods, the characters are part of a family telling the story.
“What seems like a fairy-tale mashup on the surface is actually a story of incredible depth and moral complexity,” said Ryan Dudenbostel, conductor of WWU Symphony Orchestra, who is playing the score for the musical.
Ryan Dudenbostel described the way that Sondheim writes his characters as uncanny in the way they reflect real people, which allows the story’s themes to not get lost in the fairy-tale setting and connect with the audience.
“Any collaborative endeavor combining multiple art forms provides an incredible opportunity for learning and growth,” Ryan Dudenbostel said.
“Into the Woods” will be showing on the Mainstage of the Performing Arts Center. Tickets can be bought at the box office or online and range from $19 to $28. Western students can get free balcony tickets with a valid student ID or buy discounted floor seats.
Isobel Diprima (she/her) is a campus life reporter. She is a second-year visual journalism pre-major and is thrilled for her first quarter writing for The Front. When she’s not writing, Isobel can be found curled up in bed with her cat, Twilight, reading a good book or taking photos for The Rage Magazine or of her friends. You can reach Isobel at isobeldiprima.thefront@gmail.com.
