A Day on the Farm

Photographing a cast of teens who've gone on to big things on and off stage

Ten years ago last week, I found myself at a farm in Maryland with a group of 20 extremely talented, high-achieving, and mischievous teenagers, a few adults, and a camera.

The purpose: Publicity photos for “Footloose,” a production by Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA), the dance studio our twins Ben and Emma attended at the time.

The weekend shoot was unusual, in part because budgets and schedules for a community-based theater project typically don’t accommodate a full day of publicity just before moving into tech week.

But, given the enormous amount of talent involved, this wasn’t your typical community theatre show. Now in their mid to late-mid 20s, two-thirds of the teens in the 37-person “Footloose” ensemble are continuing to pursue their artistic passions at some level professionally. And they’re doing so at an unusually high success rate, especially given the tumultuous nature of an industry that took a serious body blow during the pandemic.

Best of all, while scattered across the nation, many in this special group are still friends today.

About the Studio

This fall, it will be 20 years since our children started attending MSA, which then was known as Metropolitan Fine Arts Center (MFAC). Emma and Kate had taken dance at another studio when a parent at their daycare recommended MFAC.

MFAC was and is a non-competition studio that focused on performance, with a large spring show and several others (including “The Nutcracker” and a youth ballet) occurring throughout the year. The studio also has several “pre-professional” companies for students looking to immerse and specialize in a particular aspect (jazz, tap, ballet) of their chosen artform.

Soon after they started taking classes, Ben decided to join his sisters at the studio, even though he ducked into the bathroom whenever his ballet class had to perform.  At age 9, he booked his first professional show — “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theater — and by age 11 had moved to New York to be in “Ragtime.”

After several months in “Ragtime” and three years in “Billy Elliot” — 18 months in New York and 18 months on tour — our youngest son returned to Northern Virginia for his sophomore year in high school in the summer of 2013. While Kate had quit dance as she entered high school, Emma had continued at the studio, which was in the process of changing its name from MFAC to MSA.

The summer and fall of 2013 were an unsettled, transitional time for all of us. I had just been laid off from my job, placing a huge burden on Jill and our finances as we raised three children at home and contributed to Nicholas’ college. Ben, also unemployed, was not happy about leaving New York; Emma was glad to have her twin back at home but was faced with living in his shadow as she navigated life in a large comprehensive high school.

Meanwhile, Kate was dealing with huge academic, social, and emotional issues of her own. We also took in Jeremiah, a friend of Ben’s from New York who was attending the new Academy at MSA.

Ben, Emma, and Jeremiah cultivated a large peer group during a series of summer camps and then that fall at MSA. Most, with the exception of Jeremiah’s Academy classmates, were scattered at the various high schools in Northern Virginia, but the studio was where they found common ground and their community. They lived at the place day and night.

And it was that year, my first in my new freelance career, that I started my role as a studio photographer.

Farm Day Highlights

The Shoot

Sara Hart saw the talent she had, including a large number of boys who were interested in performing in the spring show. At the time, Sara was the show’s artistic director and the studio’s #2 person behind founder Melissa Dobbs; she was in the process of turning the spring production into more of a musical theater/dance hybrid.

The talent was in place. In 2013, “Mirror Mirror” featured a number of seniors that also have continued to perform professionally. (One, Gabi Stapula, is a swing and the current dance captain on Broadway’s “Back to the Future.”) And with the influx of boys to add to it, Sara knew she had something special.

The shoot at the farm in Upper Marlboro, Md., included a series of set, static shots to illustrate the principals and some of the cast’s ensemble. The cast also did a run on a tractor, played with the horses, and jumped off of haybales. They concluded the day by performing to a tape of the show’s title song, playing to Blake Shelton’s 2011 remake instead of Kenny Loggins’ iconic original.

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A video slideshow from “A Day at the Farm” in June 2014, set to Blake Shelton’s cover of Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.” (I do not own the rights to this music.)

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We all had a great time, although the day convinced me that I am allergic to everything that is on a farm. Three weeks later, the show played to extremely enthusiastic audiences who saw one of the finest collections of young talent Northern Virginia had to offer.

Sadly, the group would not perform together as a whole unit again. At the end of the show’s run, Ben was cast in the national tour of “Newsies.” Within the next five years, all of the cast would be off to college and the professional world.

From the ensemble, at least 10 “Footloose” alumni have performed on Broadway or on national and international tours, while others have worked consistently in regional theatre and in shows abroad. Meanwhile, several students continue to perform on local stages while pursuing careers in other industries, including social work and mental health, marketing and education. Still others have moved into the production side of the business or now teach dance.

And while some have left performing behind, those I’ve spoken with are quick to note the skills they learned at MSA — teamwork, community, resilience, etc. — have helped them in their adult lives and careers. The performing arts and the community it can bring together is truly something to behold.

This weekend, Thursday through Sunday, I am photographing this year’s spring production, an original show called “Utopia.” Then, on Sunday night, I’ll be watching one of the “Footloose” alumni — our son — on the Tony Awards.

It’s been a remarkable journey.

The Cast — Select Credits

Here are select credits of several cast members in the ensemble of the June 2014 production of “Footloose.”

• Ben Cherington — National tour of “Les Miserables”

• Ben Cook — “Illinoise” and “Mean Girls” on Broadway, “Newsies” film and national tour, “West Side Story” movie and revival, HBO’s “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.”

• Emma Cook — National tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and Netflix’s “Girls5Eva”

• Sam Cornbrooks — Producer with Production Glue in New York City

• Nakya Fenderson — Cheerleader for NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and performer with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group in Las Vegas

• Katie Frieden — National tour of “Chicago” as Roxie Hart

• Kelsey Kaufman — Universal swing for Broadway and national tour productions of “Wicked”

• Bridget Keenan — Artistic director for “Santa’s Christmas Wonderland” in Reno, Nevada, resident director and dance captain at The Broadway Theatre Myrtle Beach and dancer at Broadway’s Christmas Wonderland in Tokyo, Japan

• Roxanne King — “Once Upon a Time Called Now” at the Joyce Theatre and “I Didn’t Come to Stay” at the Guggenheim.

• Lauren Michaels — Dancer for “Broadway’s Christmas Wonderland” in Tokyo and at Busch Gardens

• Jeremiah Porter — “Evita” at American Reparatory Theater and The Shakespeare Theatre and regional productions of “Singing in The Rain” and “White Christmas”

• Veronica Quezada — International tour of “West Side Story”

• Charlotte Sadar — NBA’s Atlanta Hawks dance team

• Kyra Smith — National tours of “Mean Girls” and “Aladdin” and “Soft Power” Off-Broadway

• Hank Von Kolnitz — National tour of “A Christmas Story” and “Private Jones” and “Sweeney Todd” at Signature Theatre

• James Woods — National tour of “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live”

Others from the “Footloose” ensemble who are still working, teaching, and studying in the performing arts include Cayli Dobbs, Zsofi Harai, Naomi Hill, Halle Kaufax, Courtney Lapenta, Alexa Megan, Noah Mutterperl, Bree Perry, Lexi Rhem, and Chad Vann.

Pretty amazing, isn’t it?