Encore Stage & Studio
Tuckahoe Elementary School, 3701 Lorcom Lane, Arlington, VA 22207
About
Encore Stage & Studio offers theatre games, storytelling, movement, imaginative play, acting, musical theatre, and performance and production experiences. Students can act, sing, dance, create, and take part in teamwork-focused activities, with options to participate on stage, backstage, and in front-of-house roles such as welcoming audiences and selling concessions. The program also offers backstage tours, meet-the-cast access, voice and acting lessons, school residency programs, and touring productions tied to mainstage shows.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Office hours Monday–Friday, 10am–6pm; box office opens 1 hour before showtime
Encore Stage & Studio was founded in 1967 as The Children’s Theatre of Arlington and marks 60 years of children’s theatre in Arlington, Virginia. Its mission states that it exists to make high-quality theatre education and performance opportunities accessible to children and families while helping young people build creativity, confidence, empathy, and connection through the arts. Encore’s professional educators, teaching artists, and production teams work with children in performances, summer theatre camps, after-school and weekend classes, holiday mini-camps, private voice and acting lessons, school residency programs, and touring productions.
The program describes itself as “theatre by kids, for kids,” with youth-only, family-friendly productions where every production role onstage, backstage, front of house, and technical belongs to a student. School-year performance opportunities are open to students ages 9–18, with no fee required to audition or participate in those productions, and auditions are open to young performers with all levels of experience. Weekend and Monday classes are offered for ages 3 through teens, organized by age group and experience level, and holiday mini-camps have run for more than 15 years across Arlington and Alexandria.
Encore Stage & Studio states that its programs are intentionally designed around young performers instead of adult-centered community theatre models, and that programs are designed to encourage collaboration, empathy, confidence, and belonging for children across many backgrounds and experience levels. It offers free productions, scholarships, fee reductions, and Passport Program support, and notes that it provides performing arts for kids across the DC metro area without charging families to participate in school-year productions. Encore reports that it serves families in Arlington, Alexandria, Washington, DC, and McLean through performances, camps, arts education, and year-round programming, including school residency programs for Arlington and Alexandria elementary schools and touring productions that go directly into schools.
The organization describes itself as a supportive, inclusive community where young people learn to collaborate, take creative risks, and discover their own voices, and notes that every camp is designed to spark creativity and grow confidence. It also states that its performances, camps, arts education, and year-round programming balance creative exploration with structure, consistency, and long-standing community trust. Alumni are described as working professionally in theatre, film, and stage management across the country.
Free parking is available in the lots in front of the middle school at Gunston Arts Center, with the entrance to Theatre Two located around the right side of the building when facing the school. At Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Community Theatre, parking is available in a garage at the far end of the Alice West Fleet Elementary School, with stairs and an elevator on each level, and a loop is available for drop-off closer to the theatre entrance; patrons are instructed not to park in reserved spaces.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Office hours Monday–Friday, 10am–6pm; box office opens 1 hour before showtime
Encore Stage & Studio was founded in 1967 as The Children’s Theatre of Arlington and marks 60 years of children’s theatre in Arlington, Virginia. Its mission states that it exists to make high-quality theatre education and performance opportunities accessible to children and families while helping young people build creativity, confidence, empathy, and connection through the arts. Encore’s professional educators, teaching artists, and production teams work with children in performances, summer theatre camps, after-school and weekend classes, holiday mini-camps, private voice and acting lessons, school residency programs, and touring productions.
The program describes itself as “theatre by kids, for kids,” with youth-only, family-friendly productions where every production role onstage, backstage, front of house, and technical belongs to a student. School-year performance opportunities are open to students ages 9–18, with no fee required to audition or participate in those productions, and auditions are open to young performers with all levels of experience. Weekend and Monday classes are offered for ages 3 through teens, organized by age group and experience level, and holiday mini-camps have run for more than 15 years across Arlington and Alexandria.
Encore Stage & Studio states that its programs are intentionally designed around young performers instead of adult-centered community theatre models, and that programs are designed to encourage collaboration, empathy, confidence, and belonging for children across many backgrounds and experience levels. It offers free productions, scholarships, fee reductions, and Passport Program support, and notes that it provides performing arts for kids across the DC metro area without charging families to participate in school-year productions. Encore reports that it serves families in Arlington, Alexandria, Washington, DC, and McLean through performances, camps, arts education, and year-round programming, including school residency programs for Arlington and Alexandria elementary schools and touring productions that go directly into schools.
The organization describes itself as a supportive, inclusive community where young people learn to collaborate, take creative risks, and discover their own voices, and notes that every camp is designed to spark creativity and grow confidence. It also states that its performances, camps, arts education, and year-round programming balance creative exploration with structure, consistency, and long-standing community trust. Alumni are described as working professionally in theatre, film, and stage management across the country.
Free parking is available in the lots in front of the middle school at Gunston Arts Center, with the entrance to Theatre Two located around the right side of the building when facing the school. At Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Community Theatre, parking is available in a garage at the far end of the Alice West Fleet Elementary School, with stairs and an elevator on each level, and a loop is available for drop-off closer to the theatre entrance; patrons are instructed not to park in reserved spaces.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
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