CCT SPECIAL EVENT (not part of a subscription)
Chicago Children’s Theatre will present its first-ever Chicago Sensory Theatre Summit, a new, international convening of theater professionals, teaching artists, educators and disability advocates interested in boosting accessibility and engagement in the live performing arts.
Throughout February 2026, theater artists, educators and audiences from around the U.S. will gather for industry-only workshops as well as public-facing events including Red Kite, Green Mountain, an immersive sensory theater experience for the very young, Red Kite Prom on Valentine’s Day, CCT’s 20th Birthday Bash Open House, and more.
Chicago Children’s Theatre Co-Founder and Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell and CCT’s education staff curated the summit by drawing from the company’s 20 years of sensory work. These include CCT’s Red Kite Project experiences for children on the autism spectrum, all-access productions like X-Marks the Spot: An X-Tra Sensory Xperience inspired by visually impaired audiences, and its recent R.O.A.R. (Residencies of Arts and Resilience) program involving trauma-informed teaching and multi-sensory integration.
“The Chicago Sensory Theatre Summit will demonstrate the positive impacts of inclusive, immersive performance experiences for diverse audiences, especially neurodivergent individuals or those with sensory sensitivities, by engaging multiple senses like touch, smell, taste, sight and sound, beyond seeing and hearing.” - Founding Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Chicago Sensory Theatre Summit Community Mixer
Monday 2/2/26 @ 6pm, Free with RSVP (All Ages)
Red Kite Prom
Saturday 2/14/26 @ 7pm, $10 per participant (Ages 13 - 18)
Red Kite Friendship Tour
Sunday 2/15/26 @ 10am & 12pm, $10 per participant (All Ages)
Hunter Heartbeat Method Book Talk & Signing
Sunday 2/22/26 @ 6pm, Free with RSVP (All Ages)
A Piece of Cake!
An immersive theatrical experience for the very young (Ages 0 - 6)
Saturday 2/28/26 @ 9:30am & 11:30am, $10 per participant
Sunday 3/1/26 @ 9:30am & 11:30am, $10 per participant
CCT 20th Birthday Bash Open House
Saturday 2/28/26 @ 1pm, Free with RSVP (All Ages)
INDUSTRY WORKSHOPS
Engaging 8 Senses To Theatricalize Your Classroom
Monday 2/9/26 @ 5pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$100)
Your Neuro-inclusive Drama Classroom: Preparing To Meet Your Students Where They Are
Thursday 2/12/26 @ 1pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$100)
Return To Self & Space: Essential Ground Work For Creatives
Wednesday 2/18/26 @ 10am or both Wed 2/18/26 & Friday 2/20/26, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$100 per day)
Multisensory Play In Bedside Pediatric Theatre
Thursday 2/19/26 @ 1pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$75)
Hunter Heartbeat Method Industry Workshop
Friday 2/20/26 @ 4pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($75-$150)
Hunter Heartbeat Method Shakespeare Student Workshop
Saturday 2/21/26 & Sunday 2/22/26 @ 10am, Pay-What-You-Are-Able for both days ($160-$260 for both days)
Co-Creating Theatre For The Very Young
Monday 2/23/26 @ 1pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$75)
The Origins of Red Kite: CCT’s Journey Into Sensory Theatre Making
Wednesday 2/25/26 @ 1pm, Pay-What-You-Are-Able ($25-$100)
Thank you to the IL Arts Council and Thoma Bravo for being our Chicago Sensory Theatre Summit sponsors!
This musical based on Margaret Wise Brown’s beloved children’s book is drenched in primary colors that pay homage to Clement Hurd’s vivid illustrations in an all-new, immersive setting. Catchy songs, delightful dancing, a technicolor set, the quiet poetry of the original tale, and the humorous antics of one very nocturnal bunny all play a part in this fun, family-friendly celebration of one of the most iconic children’s books of all time.
Adapted from the book GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown, © 1947 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Text © renewed 1975 by Roberta Brown Rauch. Illustrations © renewed 1975 by Edith T. Hurd, Clement Hurd, John Thatcher Hurd, and George Hellyer, as trustees of the Edith & Clement Hurd 1982 Trust and by Albert E. Clarke III, Trustee of the Albert E. Clarke III Living Trust dated April 3, 2013. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
CCT SPECIAL EVENT (not part of a subscription)
In addition to all the fun on CCT’s own stage in 2025-26, internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and activist Natalie Merchant, in partnership with Chicago Children’s Theatre and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will debut Cabinet of Wonder, a delightful introduction to the traditional nursery rhymes by Mother Goose that has been years in the making.
Cabinet of Wonder will be unsealed later this year when the 16-part music video series drops online for free viewing around the world. The videos feature Merchant playing a dual role: a modern-day librarian-teacher 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 is professionally filmed, 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. The website will include teaching material developed with support from the University of Chicago’s Thirty Million Word initiative and the Carole Robertson Center.
Throughout the 2025-26 season, CCT and CSO teaching artists will engage hundreds of Chicago children through in-school residencies at local schools and Head Start programs. In fact, Merchant’s inspiration, original compositions and costumes for Cabinet of Wonder began eight years ago while she was volunteering as a Head Start visiting artist at an underserved school in her hometown of Troy, New York. Last month, the National Head Start Association, in honor of its 60th anniversary, announced its partnership with Merchant, who is gifting them the Cabinet of Wonder curriculum to expand early learning arts access for the nearly 800,000 children and families served by Head Start programs nationwide. Read NHSA’s announcement here.
The project peaks next spring when Merchant returns to Chicago to debut her live concert, Mother Goose & The Cabinet of Wonder, Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 11 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. as part of the CSO for Kids series. Tickets will include VIP seating. Stay tuned for details. Tickets to the concerts go on sale on August 6. To purchase, visit cso.org.
Cabinet of Wonder is a co-production of Natalie Merchant, Chicago Children’s Theatre and the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. To learn more, visit cabinetofwonder.org.