2017-2018 Annual Report
An Executive View of the 50th Anniversary “Theatre by kids, for kids” has been Encore Stage & Studio’s tagline for many years. I believe it perfectly encapsulates our mission to introduce young people to the life-changing benefits of the arts and, in turn, how they share that gift with their peers. Since 1967, we have enriched the lives of more than 400,000 people. What an incredible impact on our community! It was such a joy to celebrate this legacy throughout our fabulous 50th Anniversary season. Almost five years ago, we set a goal for ourselves to broaden our mission by serving more children in more places in more ways. We achieved this by starting outreach programs like the Healthy Play Initiative, offering after-school enrichment classes throughout Northern Virginia, and adding more productions to our season. For me, the ultimate expression of this goal has been the creation of the Theatre for All! Fund. As we celebrated our golden anniversary, our Encore family came together to emphasize the importance of sharing the arts with all children. Gifts to this fund enable Encore to expand our impact for the next 50 years and beyond. Additionally, we hosted several wonderful special events in honor of our birthday. A special thank you to our anniversary chair, Katie Boone, and all the volunteers who served on our planning committee. On a bright September Saturday, Encore families enjoyed a bus trip to Broadway to see School of Rock. Bluemont Park in Arlington hosted our 2nd Annual Costume Caper 5K fun run/walk. We saw superheroes, witches, and even a family of Jedis run the course. We celebrated in style at our 50th Anniversary Bash at the Columbus Club of Arlington. Guests were treated to an evening of performances from Encore productions, silent auction, and dancing to Broadway favorites. We saw many excited reunions of Encore alumni and staff. The fundraising event bolstered Encore’s future by raising over $50,000. For our final 50th Anniversary event, we returned to Encore’s beginnings at Lubber Run Amphitheatre. Instead of remounting our first production, A Pocketful of Preposterous Poems, we rocked out to Hamiltunes, a sing-along of songs from Hamilton: An American Musical. Delegate Alfonso Lopez presented us with a commendation from the Virginia House of Delegates in front of the audience of more than 300. In addition to all of these special events, we continued to present our wonderful onstage season and our enriching education programs. Our 2017/2018 productions showcased puppets of all varieties and introduced our students to this important theatrical tradition. Madaline’s Christmas ran for three weekends at Gunston Arts Center, our first show to do so in many years, followed by a humorous Sherlock Holmes. We brought Disney’s Lion King JR. to life on stage at Kenmore Middle with a sellout crowd of 792 patrons at the final performance. Our Musical Theatre Intensive Students presented James & The Giant Peach and our youngest audience members enjoyed the classic Pinocchio in June. We enrolled over 1,500 students in our classes and camps throughout the year and many took advantage of our new themes and formats. Our golden anniversary season ended in the colorful world of Seussical reminding us that “a person’s a person no matter how small.” Over the past fifty years, Encore Stage & Studio has been proud to bring high-quality theatre to the smallest persons in our community. Thank you to everyone who joined the journey thus far and to all of you who will help us reach the next milestone. Sincerely,
Executive Director
Encore stage & Studio Mission: To build a lifelong appreciation for live theatre by involving young people in all aspects of theatre arts — onstage, backstage, in the classroom, and in the audience. Vision: Encore Stage & Studio is the artistic home for young people in the Washington, DC area and a national leader in children’s theatre. We are an incubator of young talent providing challenging and diverse opportunities in the arts. Values: We love theatre · Kids come first · We expect excellence We encourage inclusiveness · We connect communities We build leaders · We believe education empowers
Encore Cares: Students take the stage An Interview with Sam Regardie Encore Cares is a community service program that brings a live theatre experience to kids who may not be able to access the theatre. Each year, an Encore participant takes on a new role, student director, and leads a team of their peers in this project. This year, Sam Regardie took on the challenge to direct The Fairy Tale Network. We asked him about his experience and how he felt the project impacted the kid involved as well as the folks in the audience. Encore: What initially intrigued you about Encore Cares? Sam: I have always enjoyed the theatre and loved to act. Once I heard about Encore Cares, I was immediately interested. I thought the idea of being able to share the theatre with people who can’t experience it was a great one. Since it brings me so much joy, I really liked the idea of others seeing it too. I also thought it would be a very interesting experience to be able to have a position with more influence in a play. Encore: What was the biggest challenge throughout the project? Sam: The biggest challenge throughout the project was balancing my time between Encore Cares and school. Encore Cares requires a large commitment that can be hard to balance with my school work. I always needed to do things such as editing the script, planning for rehearsals, or working on technical elements of the show. I had to make sure that I had time to do all of this. Encore: Did the project have any personal impact on you? If so, what? Sam: This project left a very large personal impact. It gave me a bigger appreciation for the theatre. I have always loved acting and seeing others perform. When I saw all the smiling faces in the audience watching the show that I directed, it made me feel great. I saw how happy the show made all of the kids. Many of the kids watching might not have a lot in their lives, but seeing them smiling and laughing made me so happy. Being part of the Encore Cares program let me know just how much others enjoy the theatre. Encore: Do you believe the project left a community impact? If so, what? Sam: I think the Encore Cares project left a community impact at its performance venues and also at Encore. It taught the kids in the audience about the theatre and Encore. Seeing the show also may have inspired some of them to want to act and perform. Since the theatre has made such a large impact on me, I wanted the kids to see how amazing it is. It also made an impact at Encore by showing the actors that they should care about others and that Encore is willing to help.
Thank you to Sam, the cast, crew, production team, and Sam's family for making this beautiful project possible and even more than that, poignant.
A Year in Numbers Contributed Income
Encore's Year in the Numbers September 1, 2017 -August 31, 2018 Total Income: $872,625 Earned: $691,073 Contributed: $181,161 Earned Income: $691,073 Production/Other: 37% Education: 63% Other: 21%
* Individuals & Events ** Theatre for All! Fund Gifts & Pledges Received
The summer of 2018 hosted 19 summer camp sessions and engaged 637 families generating $381,152 in income. Our 30 teaching artists and 29 student aides taught about creating characters, moving on stage, and working as a team to put on a show. This summer of fun even served our community by providing almost $15,000 in scholarship including to children facing housing insecurity with scholarships. The Healthy Play Initiative brought early arts education to an average of 18 children each week. These 20 families who face food insecurity depend on the Arlington Food Assistance Center for healthy options for their families. While the parents are selecting their foods, young children come and learn with Encore teaching artists. Encore’s 50th production season brought 12,697 patrons to the theatre over the course of our 8 shows, including 2 original Theatre for the Very Young plays. We saw 150 participants in the cast, 58 participants on the crew, and 23 participants manning the front of house with many taking on multiple roles throughout the season. Our 50th Anniversary celebration included 4 events. Our Bus Trip to Broadway brought 50 Encore kids and parents to see School of Rock. The 2nd Annual Costume Caper 5K saw 120 runners and volunteers. In April, our 50th Anniversary Bash grossed $52,064! To wrap up the year, we brought Encore back to where we began at Lubber Run Amphitheatre with over 300 people in the community to sing along to the hit musical Hamilton. Theatre for All! Fund reached the halfway point of our $250,000 goal! Thank you to our 66 donors. We are already fulfilling the Fund’s mission to sustain Encore’s excellence, increase our impact, ensure access and embrace inclusion for all Encore kids.
THeatre for All! Fund Update
This year, we hit half-way to our $250,000 goal to help us continue to support our spectacular programs and share them with more children in our community. Thank you to our fund donors who helped us reach this milestone. Their dedication to the growth and development of Encore is already making an impact. The Theatre for All! Fund went to work when our teaching artists came together this spring for a seminar on access and inclusion techniques for the theatre classroom with an expert from Imagination Stage. They learned about adapting everything from the class schedule to giving instruction to ensure that many different learning styles are engaged. We focused on the ultimate goal of every child participating with confidence. This year we put the strategies to work in our summer camps. We witnessed kids walking out of camp each day with their heads held high and excited to report on what they accomplished in the day.
Ensuring Access, Embracing Inclusion
Sustaining Excellence, Increasing Impact
Encore is an award-winning, regional leader in programming for children 6 months to 18 years old. We aim to continue our impact by:
We'll be frank: We need more space. Encore uses a variety of facilities around Arlington County to hold classes and stage performances, but we have outgrown many of the spaces that the county has available.
Expanding successful outreach programs by providing consistent funding to serve more children across our region Growing our scholarship fund to allow students to attend our outstanding classes and summer programs, which provide a safe and positive environment for creative expression Increasing our partnerships with local elementary and middle schools to bring character-building dramatic arts directly to students
We strive to build a dedicated theatrical space designed for our young actors and audiences. This teaching theatre will provide students with opportunities to learn about both problem-solving aspects of technical theatre and empathy-building world of onstage performances We will develop relationships with different locations that can house our educational programs --expanding our geographic impact and enabling us to serve a broader range of students
Thank you To our Theatre for All! Fund Donors
Thank you To our 2017-2018 Annual Fund Donors For over fifty years, Encore Stage & Studio has helped today’s kids become tomorrow’s leaders through the transformative power of theatre. Our organization is much bigger than our staff. It’s the parents, volunteers, community leaders, kids, and, of course, our donors that make our mission possible. Support from our annual fund means that Encore can improve our existing work and create opportunities for more children to experience the magic of live theatre. Thank you! Business & Community Supporters Aardvarks Are Wee The Allstate Foundation Arlington Commission for the Arts BB&T The Children’s Charities Foundation Fairlington Dental and Michael Rogers, DDS Lebanese Taverna Quicksilver Printing Nicecream RELX group Steelcase Foundation Virginia Commission for the Arts Walt Disney World Company Worden Tech Solutions Patrons $2500+ Anonymous (2) Betsy & Walter Lohmann Paul & Rebecca Longsworth Nancy Ory & John Adams Amy Sosin & Jerry Gidner Sustainers $1000 - $2499 Anonymous John Andelin & Virginia Geoffrey Katie & Charlie Boone Karol & Don Boudreaux Melanie Bowen & Josh Glazeroff Jim & Laura Clancy Patrice L & James B Comey Josephine Diemond The Dines Family Kevin & Sara Duke Kathleen Fong
Sustainers $1000 - $2499 (Continued) Anonymous John Andelin & Virginia Geoffrey Katie & Charlie Boone Karol & Don Boudreaux Melanie Bowen & Josh Glazeroff Jim & Laura Clancy Patrice L & James B Comey Josephine Diemond The Dines Family Kevin & Sara Duke Kathleen Fong Christine & Jim Hahn Donors $500 - $999 Anonymous (2) The Bachrack Family Sandy & Geof Barrett The Bolles Family Mr. & Mrs. Michael Bruen Debby & Jamie Cook Debra Diener John & Patricia Hall Cassandra & Marc Summerlin Sandra & Bill Layton Andrea Lipschitz & Ronan McHugh Tammy & Brian McMenamin The McNulty-Tonsetic Family Catherine & Kevin Meek Lucinda Robb & Lars Florio Sara Rubida The Smallwood Family Maureen Testoni & Michael Flanagan The Tilock Family The Worden Family
Thank you To our 2017-2018 Annual Fund Donors Supporters $250 - $499 Jamie Abrams & Jason Pletcher Rob & Jen Atkin Allison & Chris Bliley Chris Blincoe & Tim Torma Nahid Choudhury & Jeff Elder The Bloss-Baum Family Barbara & Clive Brady The Cameron Family Ronya Corey Judy & Peter Davis The Davis Family The Deane Family Charlie and Mary Denney Karen Edwards Ed Foley & Helene Stebbins The Footlik Family Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Foss Madeline Fried The Golden-Watkins Family Daniel & Susanne Grooms The Hare-Onufrak Family Annie Harold The Heaney Family The Hegtvedt Family Mary Howard Sherri Hunter & Chris Beasley Jen Jacobsen & Ethan Shenkman James Keady & Jimmy Keady Family The Kile Family Adam Kirschenbaum Pat & Emery Kobor Tara Isa Koslov & William Rivera The Lawler Family
Supporters $250 - $499 (Continued) Maureen Leahy Jenny Lindenauer & Ben Harris Jon & Christine Lyons Ann & Matt MacPhail The Marangi - Cura Family The McArdle Family Rev. Jennifer Montgomery The Mudge Family Melanie Nezer & David Baltaxe Michael Paley & Anna Luca Paul & Liza Parfomak Jeff & Kerry Ploetz The Ragheb Rook Family Katherine & Ken Roberts The Rocchio Family Elizabeth & Chris Rugaber Carole & Anthony Russo Julie & Andrew Rotherham Kurt & Christine Schaubach Laury & Martin Sendek The Thomas Family Lynn Smullen-Volz & Rodney Volz The Stoll Family Mary & George Voulgaris Jenni Wallace & Patrick Hubbard The Wood Family Darren & Kristin Zobrist
Thank you To our 2017-2018 Annual Fund Donors Contributors $100 - $249 Anonymous (5) Antonio Acevedo The A’Hearn Family Jo Ann Allen Denise Alley The Almand Family The Amaya Family Leslie & Jim Anderson Allyson & Merrell Ashley Beth Bailey Martin & Nancy Banks John Bartlett The Beckles-Chivers Family Heidi Fleischer Belmar Pat & Sarah Bidigare Thomas Boudreaux Jen & Randy Burkholder The Cabral Family Josh Canary Mary Jean Casler The Chervenic Family Tisha & Chris Clark Page & Art Coleman Michael & Paula Conrad Katie Cristol Allison Cundith Emily & Kevin Cunningham The DiLorenzo Family Tanya Dobrzynski Virginia Dodge Shireen Dodini The Fajers Sharon G. Dorsey Stephen Dove Gretchen Duffett Ann Christine Ellison Lori & Dick Engelken Linda Feldman The Ford Family Marc & Nini Forino The Fried-Wilson Family Meera Friemel Sherry Gainer Sue Gartner Kim & Ray Gastelum Amelia & Don Gay The Gent Family
Kristen & Troy Gilley Audrey Glynn Cheryl & Chris Green Coral Gundlach Asya Haikin & Leonid Kopylev The Hayes Family The Heddings Family Mary Helen & Bob Harris Lori Huffman In Honor of Marji Jepperson The Jackins Family Kate & Brian Keane Ken & Kathleen Keane Robert & Effie Kee Elizabeth Keith Susan Kelly Paula Kelso Cheh & Dina Kim Kim Family Thomas & Clare Klanderman The Knutson Family Mary Lanman Susanne Larsen Rob & Paige Lee Peter Leibold and Liz McCloskey The Loftus Family Laura London & Joseph Dennis Anna Lucca & Michael Paley Margaret MacCallum Joe & Janie Mack The Majkowski Family The Mancine Family The Mangum Family Rebecca L. Mann Claudia Martial Pamela Martinov & John Traub Brent & Elizabeth McBurney Larry McClemons Christine & John McLaughlin Peggy Meiklejohn The Michaelis Family Robin Millay Susan Mundry Wayne & Karen Nelson Katherine Neville Khanh Nguyen Darryl Nichols Rosemarie O’Connor
The O'Dell-Payne Family Lisa O’Donald & Jonathan Rotter Erik & Krista Pages Susan Pascocello Aileen Pangan Jennifer Patterson Julie M. Peters & G. Evan Pritchard Helve Pfeil The Phoel Family Joe & Lori Pickel Marilyn Pifer Jackie & Marty Pippins Richard Podell Todd Podell Laura & Michael Randers-Pehrson Gerri Ratliff & Len Gradowski Pamela Ray & Richard McSeveney The Redifer-Reising Family Whitney Richardson Emily Riedel Debbie Robinson Michael & Miriam Rollin Bonnie Rosenthal Janet Sater The Schoen Family The Schreiber Family Lisa Shapiro Boris Slivka Bob & Lauren Smith The Solley Family Galina & Nadya Steare Emily Straight & Rick Wilcox Jenny Suarez Joanne & Kevin Sweeney Margie & David Tarantino Andrew & Sarah Tarpgaard Robert Tatum Kimberly Tilock Jane Tingley Claire & David Wade The Walyus Family Erin White Linda Woodrow
Encore Board and Staff Members 2017-2018 Board: Ashby Rushing, President · Katie Boone, Vice President · Jim Clancy, Treasurer · Nancy Ory, Secretary Karol Boudreaux · Lisa Chang · Josephine Diemond · Cathie Fagerstrom · Kathy Fong · Robyn Geary Andrea Lipschitz · Carole Russo · Ellen Vicens · Andrienne Wichard-Edds · Ken Woodrow Staff 2017-2018: Sara Duke, Executive Director | Susan Keady, Artistic Director Madaline Langston, Elementary Education Programs Manager · Kelsey Meiklejohn, Secondary Education Programs Manager · Amanda Nell, Arts Apprentice · Rosemarie O'Connor, Development Aileen Pangan, Marketing & Design Director · Rebecca Pfeil, Production Manager Encore's 2017-2018 Supporters:
Children's Charities Foundation
Celebrating
50 Years of Encore