A fresh set of ideas for attire is coming to EWU’s theater this year.

The theater department’s new costume designer, Jenny Thurnau, has seven years of experience in costume design. Her past job was at the Milwaukee Repertory.

“At that job, I was sort of a jack of all costume things; I was a designer, craft artisan, involved in stitching and even a shopper,” Thurnau said.

Thurnau has a Master of Fine Arts in costume design from Western Illinois University.

“I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a costume designer; I stumbled upon it while in college. I had always been into the visual arts, and in one of my classes, my professor mentioned to me that I should pursue costume design,” Thurnau said.

Thurnau has many responsibilities, some large, some small.

“The process in deciding how to design costumes has a lot of going back and forth,” Thurnau said. “First, you read the script, then do initial renderings of what you are thinking the costumes should look like. Second, you discuss it with the director. Then, you ask for opinions during the fittings.”

The back room is not just chock full of perfect costumes. Most of the time there is a lot of work to be done. The process of designing, getting materials and fitting can take up to eight weeks.

“You have to give and take with what you have. Sometimes, you make alterations to costumes you already have. Other times, you have to make them from scratch. We have a back room that has a lot of clothes, but sometimes we have to rent or buy special costumes from other places or off the Internet,” Thurnau said.

In addition to inventing and designing the costumes, Thurnau will also be in charge of working with the performers on a more personal level.

“I do all of the fittings for the actors. Most of the actors come in twice for each show, but sometimes up to three times for a final fitting,” Thurnau said.

Equipped with her past experiences and knowledge, Thurnau is preparing for the year ahead.

“I found out about the job and it matched what I was searching for,” Thurnau said. “I am really looking forward to designing the shows this year. It will be fun to figure out how things work here and how I can improve them.”

The next show that Eastern will produce is called “The Underpants” written by Steve Martin and directed by Sara Goff. According to Goff, Thurnau is wildly creative and dedicated to teaching young artists.

“The crafting table in her house is essentially the shrine of her living space,” Goff said. “We are blessed that she chose EWU. Jenny will bring a lot to our emerging program and to my directorial vision.”

“This show is set in Germany in the year 1912. It is a comedy with five actors, and it has a moderate-sized script,” Thurnau said.

According to the EWU Theatre Department’s Facebook page, production and rehearsals for “The Underpants” have already begun.

“I am looking forward to getting the first show under my belt, then we’ll see where it goes from there,” Thurnau said.