Cabinet of Wonder
Cabinet of Wonder is a collaboration with internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and activist Natalie Merchant, in partnership with Chicago Children’s Theatre and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The
16-part music video series is available for free viewing online! The videos feature Merchant playing a dual role: a modern-day librarian figure named Miss Natalie with a passion for nursery rhymes, and an 18th-century fashioned Mother Goose who introduces the children, through song and dance, to the characters in her rhymes.
The series features a cast of children from CCT’s Education programming, members of the CSO with special guests, a magic cabinet, intricate costumes designed and created by Merchant herself, and shadow puppetry created by Manual Cinema.
Learn more and see the full video catalogue at www.cabinetofwonder.org. The website includes teaching material developed with support from the University of Chicago’s Thirty Million Word initiative and the Carole Robertson Center.
Credits
Created & Directed by Natalie Merchant
Executive Producers
Natalie Merchant
Jacqueline Russell (Chicago Children's Theatre, Artistic Director)
Jonathan McCormick (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Managing Director)
With
Will Bishop (CCT, Director of Production)
Katy Clusen (CSO for Kids, Assoicate Director)
Music Video Production by Little Cabin Films & Big Foot Media
Director Tim Whalen
Director of Photography Andrew J. Morgan
Producer Nick Nummerdor
Post-Production Abstrakt
Superviser, Editor & Colorist Andrew Pulaski
Shadow Puppetry by Manual Cinema
Shadow Puppetry Director Sarah Fornace
Puppet Design & Fabrication Drew Dir
Additional Fabrication and Manipulation Elle Fitzgerald