Encore Stage & Studio last week paid tribute to local photographer Cindy Kane, who for most of the past decade has chronicled its youth-theater performances.
Kane has proved “very special to our organization,” Encore executive director Sara Duke said in a presentation held July 18 during intermission of “The Addams Family” at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre.
“She does amazing work,” Duke said, in creating “some really beautiful images that capture the mission” of youth theater.
Kane is stepping back from chronicling each production, having been the nonprofit’s photographer since a 2018 production of “Ghostchasers.”
“She started with a spooky show and ended with another spooky show,” said Aileen Pangan Christian, who as Encore’s director of marketing and design has worked extensively with Kane in recent years.
Madaline Langston, Encore’s director of programming, said Kane has “the extraordinary ability to capture moments in time — tell stories and evoke emotions.”
“This gift of blending your eye and heart creates stunning work that inspires us all,” Langston said.
Kane began working with the organization when her daughter Juliette, then about 8 years old, began performing with Encore. The circle continued until this summer when Juliette — a 2026 Washington-Liberty High School graduate — performed as the bride ancestor in “The Addams Family.”
“Everyone I’ve photographed feels like family,” said Kane, whose Cindy Kane Photography specializes in event and portrait photographs across the metro area.
Encore’s staff “really, really care so much” about nurturing the talents and growth of youth, she said. “Our kids are so fortunate, and so was I.”
It’s not hard to get Encore’s performers to engage with the camera, Kane told ARLnow. “They want to be there,” she said.
Kane has also been active in chronicling the evolution of the Langston Blvd corridor in recent years.
She was the coauthor of the recently published “At the Heart of Langston,” a 56-page book that accompanied the “Look, An Unexpected Arts Experience” community arts initiative sponsored by the Langston Boulevard Alliance.
Encore Stage & Studio this month marks its 60th anniversary, having begun life as the Children’s Theatre, a program of the Arlington County government. Its first production, “A Pocketful of Preposterous Poems,” was staged at Lubber Run Amphitheater in late July 1966.
