Who: Madeline Wooster is a 14-year-old student at Summit High School, and a longtime BEAT Children’s Theatre performer. She makes her debut as an official costumer with BEAT’s production of “The Neverending Story.” The fantasy tale, about a bullied boy who escapes into a book containing an epic adventure, opens Friday at Cascades Theatre, 148 NW Greenwood Ave., in Bend. In performance Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m., the production runs through Feb. 2. Tickets are $18, $12 for youth 17 and under.

Q: This is the first time you’re costuming a whole show yourself?

A: Yes, that’s true.

Q: Is it a bigger job than you’d anticipated, or is it manageable?

A: Yeah, it’s pretty manageable. The first show I did (as an assistant) was “Oklahoma,” so that was BIG. This isn’t quite as big as that was.

Q: Are you altering clothes for the roles, or are you making the costumes from scratch?

A: There are several that are made from scratch, but most of it is just altered. For the werewolf’s pants, we sewed fur to them and cut them shorter, and we’re fitting them to him. So the majority is just altering.

Q: And you started with BEAT onstage, right?

A: Yes, I did. My first show was “Alice in Wonderland” in the second grade.

Q: What other shows have you done?

A: Most recently “Clue” and “Peter Pan.”

Q: Do you like doing both, being onstage and backstage, or do you prefer backstage?

A: I prefer being onstage, but since sewing is one of my other passions, I do very much enjoy costuming as well.

Q: How did you get started sewing?

A: I’m honestly not too sure. My grandmother originally taught me how to sew, but I don’t remember when. I’ve been sewing basically since I could walk, so I honestly don’t remember quite how it started.

Q: That’s cool to have a skill that goes back to before you can remember acquiring it.

A: Yeah. She even gave me my machine that I sew on.

Q: Do you have a favorite costume in “The Neverending Story”?

A: The character’s name is Urgl, and I found this really cool, like, 1800s-type lace-up vest thing. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s really cool.

Q: Do you have ambitions in the theater for the future?

A: Yes, I do want to go to either a theater or a design college at some point.

— David Jasper, The Bulletin