About Us
Mission Statement
Encore Theatre Group is a non-profit educational theatre company that seeks to build community and transform lives by providing high quality, intensive musical and theatre training, as well as performances in the South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor areas. We recognize that our performers are more than the next big stars; they are the teachers, doctors, community leaders, entrepreneurs, police officers, and parents of today and tomorrow. It is our goal to ensure they carry into the world the openness, self-confidence, supportive attitudes and team mindset that they learn with us. Putting on great quality theatrical performances is but one happy by-product of our core effort and a natural outgrowth of the respect our performers have for themselves, their mentors and peers, as well as for the art of theatre. Non Discrimination Policy
Encore Theatre Group does not, by policy or practice, discriminate against a person or group on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, gender identity and expression, marital or military status, or based on any individual’s status in any group or class protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Encore Theatre Group’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Statement & Policy Statement: The mission of Encore Theatre Group is to build community and transform lives through the performing arts. As part of that mission, the Board and staff are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community where all participants, employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feel valued and respected as part of our community. We provide equal opportunity for participation, employment and advancement in all our programs. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and wish to ensure that all voices are valued and heard. We’re committed to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. Policy: Regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, Encore Theatre group actively attempts to: • Communicate to our staff, volunteers and participants our strong belief that diversity, inclusion, and equity are an integral part of our mission. • Seek out and remove inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services on a continuing basis, seeking advice from key relational partners in the communities we serve. • Ask “hard questions” in order to expose any underlying assumptions that may be interfering with creating an equitable and inclusive environment. • Encourage our board and staff to think about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address and correct those inequities. • Challenge assumptions about the qualities we seek at the leadership levels of our organization. • Commit time and resources to expanding and recruiting more diverse leadership within our board, staff, and advisory bodies. • Remove obstacles to accessibility of our programs, including physical as well as financial obstacles. Some of the ways we plan to accomplish these goals are: • To strengthen our leadership at all levels by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of the various communities we serve. • To partner with existing organizations within the community in order to expand offerings for underrepresented constituents. • To provide training to our board and staff to continually improve our efforts at increasing inclusiveness. • To ensure that all of our casting decisions are subject to these policies and that all artists clearly understand and feel that they have equal opportunities within our program. • To actively recruit leaders within the communities we serve to serve at all levels of our organization, from the Board to the Executive team to the Creative team in order to ensure that everyone in our community feels represented within our organization. • To make our audiences, constituents and volunteers aware of our policies regarding equity and inclusion by placing statements outlining them on our website, in our Playbills and in our marketing materials. • To expand our outreach beyond our local community to make the arts more accessible to constituents in other local communities who may not have ready access to arts programming. 
History of ENCORE For years, Summer Dey Cacciagioni had dreamed of one day opening her own theatre company, having been inspired by her childhood director, Mr. Alex H. Urban who passed away in 2007. That year, Summer and her husband, Marcelo opened the doors of ENCORE for the first time and a wonderful whirlwind was started. Since then, we have had more than 3000 performers come through our programs and have provided thousands of school children the opportunity to experience live theatre for the first time through our charity outreach performances. We have expanded to include Shakespeare productions, One Act Plays, Dance Intensives, and Summer Camps. We have hosted Fundraiser Galas, Spaghetti Dinners, Golf Tournaments, and Casino Nights, all the while building a community of families whose bonds will last far beyond their time at ENCORE. The Centerpiece of our company is Leadership. Every performer is encouraged and mentored to be the best leader he or she can be, and our Student Leadership Program provides training to a select group of students each year, giving them the opportunity, through one-on-one mentorship with our Creative Team to learn skills that will provide many with their first employment, and also the opportunity to apply to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award. 2015 was a banner year as we built and moved into our very own studios, combining all of our office, rehearsal, storage and set building venues under one roof. In addition, Tracy Schiller took over as Executive Director, freeing Summer to spend more time on the creative side as Artistic Director. Together Summer and Tracy, along with their dedicated staff, look forward to the next decade of training performers of all ages to become the leaders of tomorrow. |
Company Highlights ENCORE Main Stage Productions: Annie Beauty and The Beast Grease Guys & Dolls Hairspray How to Eat Like A Child Hunchback of Notre Dame Into The Woods Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Les Misérables Mary Poppins Music Man Oliver! Peter Pan Quilters Shrek The Musical Seussical the Musical The Drowsy Chaperone The Little Mermaid The Sound of Music Wizard of Oz You're A Good Man Charlie Brown Other Productions: A Midsummer Night's Dream Evening of Student One-Acts Much Ado About Nothing Romeo and Juliet Safety Kids Taming of the Shrew Summer Camp Productions: Aladdin Jr. Alice In Wonderland Jr. Annie Jr. 101 Dalmatians Kids Guys & Dolls Jr. Hairspray Jr. Honk Jr. Lion King Jr. Little Mermaid Jr. Peter Pan Jr. Schoolhouse Rock Jr. Willy Wonka Jr. |
ENCORE is a non-profit corporation under IRS 501(c)3 dedicated to education in the performing arts.