Katherine Fahey, Katie Cuffari Shinsato, and Rebecca Siegmund Williams
This time last year, I was thinking a lot about this song (Mrs. Whitmore's song) and how i wanted to make a shadow puppet show about it. I had made a crankie (a hand cranked scrolling story telling device in a box) as part of a shadow puppet music video for band Wye Oak, but it wasn't till I met fiddler, Anna Roberts Gevalt and ballad singer, Elizabeth LaPrelle that I thought of making it portable. They had made a couple of crankies they could take around with them and perform. I based the design of my box on theirs.
Even then, i had no idea what kind of adventure this was going to take me on. My first show was in the warm and welcoming Black Cherry Puppet theater in my town of Baltimore. After that, I quickly found myself performing at cafes, schools, parties, music shows. I even got to do several performances at Virginia Center fro the Creative Arts and other shows in Virginia and West Virginia with Anna and Elizabeth.
This new shadow puppet show did several things for me which I never expected. Always having been shy about performance, the crankie allowed me to sing without feeling so much of the attention on me as well as allowed me to share my art with people in real time. I was able to experience the connection you make with an audience in a way that only live performance can create.
Now with January coming around again I have finally a video of the crankie to share with all of you. I know it's not the same as seeing it in person but hopefully it will allow me to share it with more people.
So I guess my lesson for 2010 is to keep doing things I love but am afraid to do. Happy New Year!
Video Credits:
Art Director/Paper cutter/puppeteer/Vocals: Katherine Fahey
Songwriter: Carole Moody Crompton
Director of Photography: Michael Patrick O'Leary
Puppeteer: Katie Cuffari Shinsato
Puppeteer: Rebecca Siegmund Williams
Paper Cutter: Raj Bunnag
Sound: Nick Sjostrom
Crank Box Construction: Neal Golden
Hello - I have watched this video a few times now and I am mesmerized! I am interested in building my own crankie theatre to tell the stories of the park at which I work. Do you have building plans, or suggestions? Thank-you!
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