As its 60th birthday approaches, Encore Stage & Studio is expanding its reach while remaining true to its core beliefs.
“We’ve worked hard to advance Encore’s mission,” the organization’s board chair, Lisa Sullivan, said at an April 22 benefit breakfast at Washington Golf & Country Club.
“Encore is reaching more young people than ever before,” Sullivan said, while acknowledging that the need exceeds the organization’s staffing abilities.
“There are students all across Northern Virginia dreaming of accessing our services,” she said.
Long focused on performances and camps in Arlington, the organization has begun to expand that reach, including offering programming in Alexandria.
Each season, nearly 400 students participate as cast and crew members on productions, which draw about 10,000 audience members. Encore also has branched out to commissioning new shows aimed at young audiences, like the recent “Sherlock in Wonderland.”
High-school seniors who have participated as cast and crew of Encore productions were honored at the celebration.
“When I was little, my biggest dream was to be on stage,” said Washington-Liberty High School senior Juliette Kane. “[Encore] helped all my little-kid dreams come true.”
“Being on stage is still where I feel most authentic,” added Abigail Houle, another graduating senior from Washington-Liberty.
Through her work as an actor and director and in tech support, Houle said she learned “resilience, confidence and leadership skills.”
Helping young people cultivate those traits is just as important as teaching them theater skills, Encore executive director Sara Strehle Duke said.
Wherever life takes them, “they have the foundation to succeed,” she said. “They try new things, they build — and they dream.”
Most will not become professional performers or backstage personnel. But, Duke said, there are those who could break through that competitive field.
She told the audience her ultimate aspiration is to tune into the Tony or Oscar awards ceremonies one day, when “one of the fine actors will come up to the stage, pause, and with a tear in their eye say, ‘I learned it all at Encore.'”
The event also included the presentation of Encore’s 2026 “Celeste Award,” named after longtime executive producer Celeste Groves.
It was bestowed on Claire Wade, who served as Encore’s first finance staff member and later was a board member. She first became involved in the organization about 20 years ago through her daughters, who participated in productions.
“I am just gobsmacked with where we are here from where we were then,” Wade said of the arts organization’s growth.
Wade began working for Encore in 2008 when Groves was still serving as executive producer.
“What a privilege it was to be able to work with Celeste. She is a legend,” Wade said with Groves standing at her side.
Next up for Encore is “Dare to Dream: A Disney Musical Revue,” set to open in late May. In mid-July, the troupe closes out its 2025-26 season with “The Addams Family.”
The 2026-27 season will be revealed next month.
For years, it was believed that the Children’s Theatre of Arlington presented its first production — “A Pocketful of Preposterous Poems” — in the summer of 1967 at Lubber Run Amphitheater.
That timeline got the season and location correct, but was off by a year. The first production actually took place in July 1966, according to Northern Virginia Sun archives.
Initially sponsored by the Arlington County parks department, the program eventually spun off as a separate non-profit. In 2010, the organization began transitioning from an all-volunteer operation to hiring a professional staff.
