Nostalgic, Theatrical, Sometimes Absurd and Always Playful
Artists Corbin and Cates create things that make you go hmmm...

by Kara Schweiss

Many ventures begin on a small scale, but Quinn Metal Corbin and Chelsea Cates launched their collaborative photo project C+C Mini Factory on a really small scale.

“Basically, we take miniatures and toys and create miniature worlds around them. Sometimes we like to think of it as miniature installations or miniature theater stages. And then we take the pictures and create sort of these whimsical, magical worlds,” Cates said.

When they began their creative collaboration in 2012, Corbin and Cates were both far from home in Brooklyn; Corbin is a UNO graduate and the daughter of retired UNO professors David Corbin and Josie Metal-Corbin, Cates is from the West Coast. With her background including photography and art, Cates was originally interested in creating large-scale installations as she’d done for thesis work.

“Quinn’s idea was, ‘Why don’t we get together and try to do that on a miniature scale?’” Cates said. “Neither of us had the space or the money, so that was sort of the impetus, and we were both working at jobs we didn’t really love and wanted a more creative outlet.”

Animals are typical subjects, sometimes in natural backgrounds like an Appaloosa perched high on a Columbia River Gorge overlook or a wolf in the foreground of Bash Bish Falls in Massachusetts; sometimes the scenes are surreal, like a stage lit cockatoo singing into a microphone, a raccoon playing The Oregon Trail on a computer or canine bachelors vying for attention on the set of “Puppy Love Connection.”

“A lot of it was actual toys from the ‘90s that I had with me; I’d recently brought a suitcase of them back after I visited Omaha,” Corbin said. “We were just playing around with that, and that’s where it started.”

The name came easily. “C+C Mini Factory” not only alludes to the last names of its creators, but also to the era of their youth and one of its quintessential music groups, C+C Music Factory, known for “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).”

“When we were thinking of a name for our project, that was just a really great pun, and also a fun throwback that gave a nod to the nostalgia of the ‘90s, which we are also very much about,” Cates said.

C+C Mini Factory had an unexpected early boost with the rise of social media.

“We ended up being featured by Instagram,” Corbin said. “We had like 75 followers (at first), and then at the peak, we probably got up to 60,000 or something. It was a very quick rise.”

In 2015, C+C Mini Factory received a Shorty Award (introduced in 2008 to honor creators in the social media world) for Best Instagrammer, winning over six other finalists including big names like Mindy Kaling and Kate Spade. Cates and Corbin received recognition from various other media sources, too, which led to collaborations with the likes of Starbucks and Mozilla Firefox. They even had their work exhibited in New York and San Francisco galleries.

Buoyed by their early success, Cates and Corbin began pursuing a book project for C+C Mini Factory. Unlike their social media experience, however, this channel proved to be challenging as they struggled for years to find the right concept. “We had some failed attempts,” Corbin said.

A friend in the publishing business, Allison Cohen, pitched C+C Mini Factory at Running Press Kids, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. A farm theme arose from the discussions.

“We weren’t necessarily thinking a children’s book, but it became a natural fit as we had these conversations,” Corbin said.

“A Night at the Farm: A Bedtime Party,” co-authored by Cates and Corbin under the C+C Mini Factory brand, was published by Running Press in 2021. The 32-page children’s book featured a cast of miniature farm animals and their bedtime adventures: “The long day is over. Now it’s time for some fun. Because when the farmer goes to sleep… the party’s just begun!”

By 2022, Cates had relocated to Portland, Oregon, and Corbin had returned to Omaha and her roots in theater, working as a manager for Great Plains Theatre Commons. Through various creative connections, the concept of creating a musical adaptation of “A Night at the Farm” for The Rose Theater gelled over time. Jackie Kappes served as playwright, Liz Stinman came on as music director, and Matt Gutschick was the artistic director for the eventual world premiere of “Night at the Farm: A Bedtime Party” that ran from January 19 to February 4 this year.

Suzanne Withem, who served as director, already knew Corbin from local youth performing arts activities and, later, UNO classes. “It was really cool to get to work with Quinn,” she said.

The book was a great fit for adaptation for children’s theater, she said, not only because of the lively characters, but also because the story was especially suitable for younger children eager to interact.

“The way that Jackie adapted the book into the play, she really wanted audience participation,” Withem said. “Jackie also wrote in opportunities for the kids to do singing, call-and-response and even get up on their feet and dance along with the characters on stage.”

“It was so inviting for the kids to just be free to laugh out loud, to be a part of what’s happening and express that during the show,” said actor Candace Gould, who played the character Kitty. Gould said she also enjoyed helping refine a new production with a diverse team of creative individuals.

“What a great book Quinn and Chelsea wrote. It would be such an honor, I would imagine, to have your book adapted into theater, kids’ theater, especially,” she said. “It was so well-received by my nieces and nephews… And I talked to so many different parents who were like, ‘This is my very first show, but we are definitely going to be bringing them again.’ It was a great show.”

UNO alumna and Corbin’s Great Plains Theatre Commons colleague TammyRa’ (who uses one name professionally) played the part of Mama Goat and made an appearance as DJ Rabbit. She’s known for recent dramatic roles like Celie in “The Color Purple” at the Omaha Community Playhouse, but TammyRa’ said she enjoyed the novelty of performing for a young audience.

“I loved it,” she said. “It was a fun time.” She added that as a mother and grandmother, she appreciated that families with small children could enjoy the musical without “shushing.”

“Here you have these preschoolers that are just excited about it. We have some fun music in there, and they want to get up and dance,” she explained. “It is wonderful to take your child to a show where they don’t have to be quiet.”

The adults in the audience also had a good time, TammyRa’ added. “I loved seeing the adults jumping up and dancing, too… Although it was a show for preschoolers, I think everybody can get something from it. It’s a wonderful story.”

According to Corbin, the show played to over 5,000 audience members over its three-week run and was enthusiastically received. TammyRa’ said she felt “Night at the Farm” could live beyond its debut performance at The Rose. “I truly think that this show could go on tour.”

Corbin coordinated a successful crowdfunding effort to support a cast recording of the musical — with the original Omaha-based composer and arranger Graham Ulicny managing its mixing — to share “original, playful earworms with children and adults alike; aid in potential future licensing of the show; and give a wonderful opportunity for Omaha artists to add to their portfolio.” Studio time was scheduled for mid-March and updates for the release of the cast recording should be announced on C+C Mini Factory’s social media.

And much like the book “Night at the Farm” took on new life on the stage, there may be more ahead for C+C, too — like a television series, Corbin said.

“We’re in different phases of that being explored and shopped around,” she said. “So, hopefully…”

For more information about C+C Mini Factory and their miniature masterpieces go to cargocollective.com/ccminifactory; and follow them as they continue to explore the boundaries of the imagination on Instagram @ccminifactory.