Wow! The school year is off to a sprint. Encore already has two shows in rehearsal with one opening early next month. As we’re getting ready to settle into fall weather, we wanted to take a moment to share our Top Five Successes from Summer 2018.
#1 – The Musical of the Summer — Seussical
The colorful world of Seussical was the perfect place for us to bring Encore’s 50th anniversary season to a close. The stunning set designed by Kristen Jepperson, the bright costumes by Debra Leonard, and of course the choreography, musical direction, and direction by Kelsey Meiklejohn, Sarah Markovitz, and Elizabeth Pringle respectively took this show off of the page and into the Jungle of Nool and beyond.
#2 – Summer Camp Supporting the Community
Encore’s partnership with Project Extra Step and their affiliate organizations provides the opportunity to participate in drama camp for children who may not be able to otherwise. Project Extra Step, Arlington County School’s office that coordinates a consistent education for homeless students, refers its clients to Encore to ensure a safe, creative, and fun place for these children when school is out. This summer, we provided $15,000 in full and partial scholarship to 30 students at our summer camps.
#3 – Hamiltunes Sing-a-long
This June, we took things back to where Encore began as the Children’s Theatre of Arlington in 1967. We hosted a hot summer evening of fulfilling Encore’s mission, by bringing the kids of the Arlington community together to sing along to the songs from Hamilton. This karaoke style event brought kids of all ages on stage. The evening kicked off with our 2018-2019 Season Reveal and the presentation of a commendation for Encore’s 50th Anniversary from the Virginia’s General Assembly. And of course, all Encore season reveals come with ice cream!
#4 – Seven Summer Camps Sold Out
That’s right! This summer seven of our summer camps sold out. Our It’s Elementary, Scenes for Tweens, and Stagedoor programs all had at least one camp on the list. We served over 637 kids, had 20 different camp themes, and were in four different facilities. It was a fun and exciting camp season.
#5 – Amazing Staff Bringing it All Together
We can create ideas for camp themes all day long, but without staff members to bring the ideas to life, those ideas stay on the page. 30 local teens were hired as aids for the camps. Encore also brought in 27 local teaching artists to lead the classrooms and productions. We are so lucky to have a staff that brought joy to each day of the summer.
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Thank you again to everyone who made this summer possible. We can’t wait to celebrate the fall with our first production of the season Ghostchasers! and the Costume Caper 5K.
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