Here's my opinion - if we allow texting at live performances, more teens might show up. however, they would be too busy texting to pay any attention to the performance. it's rude to the audience, the performers, and anyone and everyone else involved in the show. if you are so obsessed with texting that you cant live without it for a few hours, don't bother going to the show. it's just plain disrespectful.
One of the things we love about summer is that there's a ton of teen created art happening: Breaking Character by QTET at Washington Ensemble Theatre, Hair& The Laramie Project by the SCT Drama School, Sideshow by the ArtsWest Apprenticeship Program, and, of course, our good friends at Young Americans' Theatre Company tearing it up all summer long.This weekend, we would like to strongly encourage you to check out Roulette. A brand new rock musical by the Out of the Box Theatre Conservatory, a group of young actors, writers, musicians and performers (including a bunch of Teen Tix members! Hey there Dylan, Kayla, Amy, and Tyler!), this is a story of a a boy and his internet. And here's a great gimmick if we ever heard one (from actor Amy Helmuth's blog): Throughout the show, audience members have the opportunity to participate in the theatrical experience by using their smart phones to communicate with our main character by way of their Facebook page. If you post something, the cast on stage will react to it right before your eyes!Roulette runs this weekend and next at Balagan Theatre on Capitol Hill. As always, Teen Tix are $5 at the door.Roulette's Facebook (where you can see tons of videos of random duded sitting on their couches.)
Sorry about the lack of post last Wednesday--I was busy doing an intern-y thing: Purging the Teen Tix Member database of faulty email addresses (revealed by hundreds of bounceback responses to a Teen Tix Newsletter). About 600 email addresses, 8 hours, and one beautiful week later, I emerge victorious and return to blogging (thank goodness)... but how is this important to you? If you aren't getting the weekly newsletter (and your spam filter isn't at fault),update your Teen Tix member information! Here's how:Email Teen Tix and let us know your name and correct emailaddress and we'll fix it.
There's a little internet thing making the rounds today that I couldn't resist. It's a "statistic analysis tool" that supposedly tells you which famous author's your writing most resembles. They don't tell you what aspects or qualities of your writing they are analyzing to come to this conclusion, so it's a little bit annoying and dumb. So, of course, we had to spend some time playing with it. Here are the results for me (Holly), Mykaila (our summer high school intern), and our last few review writers: Me: I write like J.R.R. Tolkien I write likeJ. R. R. Tolkien
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!Mykaila writes like Dan Brown: I write likeDan Brown
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!Callan writes like Kurt Vonnegut: I write likeKurt Vonnegut
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!Paulina writes like Stephen King: I write likeStephen King
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!Yvette writes like Vladimir Nabokov: I write likeVladimir Nabokov
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!And Emma Me. writes like Mark Twain: I write likeMark Twain
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!Who knew? Want to find out who you write like? Go here
By Arista Burwell-ChenTeen Tix is the Seattle Center’s best kept secret. But it shouldn’t be. It is a free program that offers teens ages 13 to 19 access to five dollar tickets to dozens of local arts organizations in an effort to encourage youth to frequent the arts. “The best aspect of Teen Tix is that it makes our arts community stronger,” says Program Manager Holly Arsenault, “It brings needed age diversity to arts audiences.” By helping to engage a new generation of audiences, Teen Tix has proven itself to be an essential part of Seattle’s cultural landscape. But why bother? Arsenault explains, “Arts experiences are valuable. Being an audience member can be just as enriching as creating art, and those experiences should be available to everyone regardless of age and income.” Plus, Teen Tix is a great way for what Arsenault calls “arts curious teenagers” to find and form their own communities. Teen Tix is designed to allow young people access to a wide variety of programs ranging from the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet to the Experience Music Project and Michael Jackson Laser Show at the Seattle Center, and to give them opportunities to further engage with art through special meet-the-artist events, leadership opportunities, and the chance to write reviews for the Teen Tix blog.The only bad part about Teen Tix is that this fabulous opportunity ends at age 20. However, that is all the more reason to get involved in the arts earlier. Just take it from Holly, who says, “There’s a whole community of art lovers out there who like the same things you do.” Teen Tix wants you to find them.Arista Burwell-Chen is an 18 year-old Seattle resident and Teen Tix member. She is a recent graduate of Holy Names Academy, and was one of 13 local youth selected to participate in Teen Tix’s 09-10 Young Critics Workshop, an arts journalism seminar for 11th & 12th graders. To learn more about Teen Tix and to sign up for a free Teen Tix pass, visit seattlecenter.com/teentix.
Review of Man of La Mancha at Taproot Theatre Company by Callan C.Dreaming the impossible dream – that’s what Taproot Theatre’s performance of Man of La Mancha is all about. This award-winning musical about Miguel de Cervantes and his classic novel Don Quixote carries a classic message of hope, even in the most hopeless of situations. The story begins with Cervantes being thrown into prison by the Inquisition, where he meets a rough group of prisoners who are immediately suspicious of him. They put Cervantes on trial and charge him with being “an idealist, a bad poet, and an honest man.” Cervantes pleads guilty to all charges, but also persuades the other prisoners to let him defend himself in the form of a story – the story of an old man who calls himself Don Quixote.Jeff Berryman and Don Darryl Rivera. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.I have to admit that before seeing Man of La Mancha, I knew very little about Miguel de Cervantes or the story of Don Quixote. However, I don’t think my ignorance took away from my enjoyment of the performance – in fact, I think it might have made it more enjoyable. I found Taproot Theatre’s intimate space to be well-suited for the story-telling aspect of the play, and the simple set and props seemed realistic, seeing as the story is supposed to take place in a prison. The actors, too, were excellent. Jeff Berryman, who portrayed Cervantes and his alter-ego Don Quixote, was passionate and charismatic in both roles. However, I must say that Don Darryl Rivera, who played Cervantes’ servant and Don Quixote’s sidekick Sancho Panza, was my favorite. He added some much-needed humor to this otherwise serious play, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning when he sang “I Really Like Him” to explain why he so loyally serves his master Quixote. Though not all the actors were perfectly in pitch for the various musical numbers, the music (which included live guitar and percussion) was well-done overall.The storyline itself is somewhat predictable towards the end, but I found it to be very touching and inspiring nevertheless. The ending and final song nearly brought tears to my eyes, as I believe it did for much of the audience. Though I have not actually read Don Quixote, as I said before, through my own research I believe that Man of La Mancha does stray somewhat from the original novel. In Man of La Mancha, the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred in more ways than one. Despite the fact that Don Quixote is really a crazy old man, you cannot help but find yourself on his side, enjoying his delusions of grandeur and glory. As the play ended I found myself wondering if it is better to be sane, living in a dismal reality, or to be insane, living in a fantasy world where one can truly dream. Perhaps it is as Cervantes says: “When life itself is lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Too much sanity may be madness.” - Callan C.July 10, 2010Man of La ManchaTaproot TheatreThrough August 7th
Our summer high school intern, Mykaila, signs this year's Teeny Awards as the official representative of the Teen Steering Committee. This was taken last week, obvs, but we couldn't post it until after we surprised the winners with singing telegrams. Hey! Speaking of the Teen Steering Committee, want to be on it? We're looking for new members. If you are 13 - 19 years old, love art, love Teen Tix, and want to help make Teen Tix the best it can be, we want you! More info here.
Okay, here are some statistics that will probably not shock you: 88% of teenagers with cell phones are texters, half of those say that they send more than 50 texts a day, and one in three say they send more than 100 texts a day (that's 3,000 texts a month!) (Pew Internet, April 2010)So, here's the question: has texting become so integral to teens' lives that the fact that you can't text while you're watching a play or dance performance or even a movie deters you from wanting to do those things? Today on Slog, Paul Constant suggests that maybe some accommodation could be made for people who can't stand to go an hour and half text-free: maybe movie theaters could designate the last two rows as "text-friendly," thereby providing texters with a place where they won't feel deprived and the people around them won't feel annoyed by their little glowing screens. Last year, during their run of Speech & Debate, Seattle Rep designated a couple of rows in the balcony for tweeting for a couple of performances. It's not hard to imagine (okay, it's a little bit hard, but since you're all young and your imaginations are therefore hopefully still in working order, I'm sure you can get there) theaters and music halls adopting a similar system as audiences grow younger and - for better or worse - less capable (or willing) to be separated from their technology.So, what you think? Would you be in support of arts organizations making space for mid-show texting? Be honest - have you ever been deterred from going to see something because you knew you wouldn't be able to text for a couple of hours? Or do you think that texting during shows is a social scourge that ought to remain forever verboten? Take the poll (up there on the right)!
Teen Tix is pleased to fling open its doors and hand you the keys. In other words: COME AND JOIN OUR TEEN STEERING COMMITTEE!Teen Tix’s Teen Steering Committee is a group of opinionated and highly dedicated individuals who are committed to making the arts accessible for young people.Here are a few of the things that we do:• Come up with innovate marketing techniques for promoting the arts to teenagers• Award our annual Teeny Awards, recognizing the best in teen-friendly local arts• Write and create content for the Teen Tix blog, website, and other media outlets• Meet with leaders from various arts organizations to share our ideas and learn about what they do• Serve as “watchdogs” by attending venues and checking up on the box office experience.• Plan and help execute special events at Participating Organizations• Act as ambassadors for Teen Tix at your school• Help set the course for the future of the Teen Tix program• See shows!If you believe that the arts are valuable, if you want to help make the arts accessible for everyone regardless of age or income, and if you want to be a leader in Seattle’s youth arts movement, we need your voice!• The Teen Steering Committee meets monthly from October to June of each year at Seattle Center.• Participation in the committee can qualify for Service Learning Credit at your school.• First Meeting for the 2010-11 school year will be held in early October.Ready to throw in your name?It’s easy! You must be nominated to join the committee. Simply have an adult (who is not your parent) or a fellow teen email us with a short explanation of why YOU should be part of our team. Make sure they include your name and email address, so we can follow up with you.Hurry! The first meeting of the year will be in early October!
Our second annual Teeny Awards were a HUGE success: more votes, more awards, more love for Seattle's most teen-friendly arts organizations. HOORAY!Teen Tix's Teeny Awards are presented every Spring by the Teen Steering Committee based on member voting. The awards aim to empower young audiences, to reward youth-friendly programming choices, and to acknowledge those organizations where young audience members feel particularly welcomed and valued. Our beautiful certificate, designed by Brian NaubertThis year, we surprised all of the winning organizations with singing telegrams. Our amazing Teeny Awards Delivery Squad - Elsa, Katy, and Mac - sang, danced, and spread joy all day long. It was (how shall we say?) completely off the hook. Watch!Thanks to everyone who voted, thanks to our incredible Delivery Squad, and thanks to all of our participating organizations for making Seattle such a great place to be an arts-loving teenager. WE LOVE YOU! See you next year.Teeny Award Winners 2010:Best Selling Show of 2009 - 2010:Roméo et Juliette at Pacific Northwest BalletBest Art Exhibit of 2009 - 2010:Polaroids: Mapplethorpe at Henry Art GalleryBest Dance Performance of 2009 - 2010: 3 by Dove at Pacific Northwest BalletBest Film of 2009 - 2010: tie! The Yes Men Save the World at Northwest Film Forum and Sci-Fi on Blu-Ray Series at SIFF CinemaBest Play or Musical of 2009 - 2010:Speech & Debate at Seattle Repertory TheatreBest Music Performance of 2009 - 2010:Sound Off! 2010 at EMPBest "Other" Show of 2009 - 2010:Laser Michael Jackson at Seattle Laser DomeBest Date Venue: Pacific Science Center's IMAX & Laser DomeBest Box Office Experience: Seattle Children's TheatreBest Seats in the House: Seattle SymphonyBest Film Organization: SIFFBest Museum or Art Gallery: Seattle Art MuseumBest Performing Arts Organization: Seattle SymphonyBest Multi-Disciplinary Organization: Cornish College of the ArtsFavorite New Teen Tix Organization: Seattle Art MuseumFavorite Organization Overall (small): Young Americans' Theatre CompanyFavorite Organization Overall (mid-size): Seattle Shakespeare CompanyFavorite Organization Overall (large): Pacific Northwest BalletThe Phoenix Award: Rising From the Ashes: Taproot Theatre Company
SummerSoundFREE all-ages concert at Center SquareVoted in by members of the Soundboard and EMP’s Youth Advisory Board, Seattle’s Kids and Animals will kick-off the concert at 7 pm. Remaining performances will be held by Sound Off! Alumni Idiot Pilot (Sound Off! 2004), People Eating People (featuring Nouela from Mon Frere, Sound Off! 2004) and SEACATS (Sound Off! 2010).Kids and Animals live on KEXPKids and Animals is an eclectic group of young Seattleites who have received much recognition for their sophisticated songwriting and uninhibited live show. Since self-releasing their self-titled debut album they have peaked at number eight on KEXP's local music charts.Idiot Pilot is a high energy duo from Bellingham, WA who have been performing their unique blend of music for nearly ten years. As Pioneers of the burgeoning post hardcore and electronica landscape, Idiot Pilot is known for their spastic live shows and experimental recordings.People Eating People is a piano-driven trio headed by Seattle keyboard player Nouela Johnston.
SEACATS at SoundOff! 2010Photo by Brady HarveySEACATS is an uncompromisingly catchy rock quintet from Kelso, WA. Creating the perfect pop concoction of surf guitars, hand claps, and Ba Ba Ba Ba’s, their endearing songs are backed by upbeat percussion and a relentless sneer.SummerSoundThursday, July 87 - 10 pmCenter Square (right behind EMP!)FREE!
Intern Journal #2I’m not (and never have been) a gamer. Video games never appealed to me as a way that I wanted to spend my time—they seemed pointless, unless I was bored and desperate for something to do. Lately, though, I’ve been spending a lot of time with people who are absolutely passionate about video games. A lot of my assumptions about video games and the people who play them have been challenged—and, in many cases, totally shut down. In a conversation with a gamer friend of mine, he mentioned that Roger Ebert has made the assertion that “video games can never be art.” My friend said he didn’t think that that was true.Roger Ebert says that a clear difference between video games and established art forms is that one can win a video game (it has points, objectives, rules, strategies) but one cannot “win” art, one can only experience art. But what if winning (or losing, if you’re like me) the game is part of the experience? And what about those Goosebumps books where you made decisions in the story to get to one of a few endings? Are they literary art, or are they a game?On Monday, I was listening to NPR’s On the Media, and Brooke Gladstone was interviewing writer and critic Tom Bissell about why video games matter. He says that “[Good storytelling in games] actually gives you this unbelievably scary and weird and often very troubling kind of agency. And fiction can't do that, movies can't do that. That's the kind of things that I love about games, is those moments of just jaw-dropping scary freedom.” Video games, he says, are not the same as literature or film, and so they should strive to create a different kind of experience than the other two art forms. Comparing the video game experience to a reading experience or a movie-watching experience doesn’t make sense.I decided to ask the experts: my gamer friends. One made an interesting point that “Without art video games would be boring and stale, with nothing to draw a player in,” and I think that’s pretty true. A sort of literary art draws people into the characters and story of the video game, as do the visual artistic effects that make a game aesthetically pleasant to partake in. Someone pointed out that video games can absolutely be art (using the Wikipedia definition: “the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions”) but that doesn’t mean that all video games are.Another friend noted that making a video game “takes creativity and ingenuity,” but I wonder if that is all that it takes to make art. There are a lot of artistic components to video games, though, they all said. Appealing music and sound effects, design and coding, visuals, and storytelling all require a significant amount of artistic skill, and the collaboration among artists to create the final work, when done well, is impressive.I’m not sure I have the right to make a call about video games’ artistic legitimacy, simply because I don’t play them. I wouldn’t comment on a film I’d experienced with the picture turned off (to use one of Tom Bissell’s examples), so why would I comment on another potential type of art which I have never really experienced?It seems to me as though both sides have a point, but in order to come to a conclusion, we have to define art—something about which everyone has a different opinion.What do you think?? Vote in the poll! (Look in the upper right of the blog.)Read Roger Ebert’s argument hereRead the transcript or listen to the recording of the interview with Tom Bissell here
I heart Mykaela!
I have discovered that there is actually a behind the scenes of Teen Tix... actual real-life, awesome people who do a lot of work to keep Teen Tix running. Real humans blog, tweet, facebook, and do some crazy hard work all in the name of $5 tickets.Kind of shocking, I know.Anyway, now there's an actual teenager working at Teen Tix... and that teenager is me. I'm Mykaila, and I'm interning (read: slaving away for free) for Teen Tix. Why? On the long list of things I adore, Teen Tix is near the top. Its neighbors are summer, really nice ballpoint pens, kickball, and free speech. Because of Teen Tix’s extremely high level of magnificence, I look forward to coming in on Wednesdays to slave away –uh, intern. Every Wednesday this summer, you can expect to see a post from me detailing the electrifying adventure of being Teen Tix’s teenage intern.I have been asked to also describe what I'm up to. I've been creating an archive of this blog. Basically, I go back to past blog posts and copy and paste each individual post into its own document (thrilling, right?). The goal is to have every single post in teen tix blog history on paper (you know, in case the internet goes out of style). So far, I've seen every teen tix blog post from February 2007 until August 2009 (and there's a few hours left in my day). I have made a list of my TOP 5 FAVORITE BLOG POST TITLES IN TEEN TIX HISTORY:• Flawlessness=afros, Smart Cars, and German rap (May 2008) • What do Britney Spears songs have in common with Medieval Muslim Spain poets? (June 2009)(Nobody ever found out... the event was cancelled. Does anybody else want to know this as badly as I do? Does anybody know the answer?) • A Powerhouse Meme of Slavic Theme (November 09) • OMGOTB (September 09) (Must be paired with its opening lines: "Seriously? This is not a lame attempt to pander to you via ham-fisted teen lingo throwdown. (That's what we usually do, it's just not what we're doing right now.) This is an earnest, mature, sober, adult expression of enthusiasm of the unrestrainable variety: ZOMG we got OtB!!!!!!!!!")• knee-slapping-laugh-so-hard-your-belly-hurts-jolly-old-fun-old-bean stuff (October 09) That’s all I have to say for this week. Questions? Concerns? Alarms? Outbreaks of honesty? Until next week… make like the teen tix blog, and keep it real.- Mykaila
Zoey Belyea and Tallis Moore of the Young Americans' Theatre Company!Zoey and Tallis are both members of the Young Americans' Theatre Company (YATC.) They talked to us about their upcoming show, Past Curfew, how they each got tricked into becoming actors by their evil actor parents, and why the other is so crush-worthy. It's cute. Watch. Past Curfew: A Festival of One Actspresented by Young Americans' Theatre Company at Balagan Theatre, 1117 E Pike Street on Capitol Hill.June 30 - July 3
Teaser from those crazy kids at Young Americans' Theatre Company for their upcoming festival of one acts, Past Curfew:Past CurfewYoung Americans' Theatre Company @ Balagan TheatreJune 30 - July 3Recommended for ages 14 & up
ART ATTACKTeen Night OutJune 25, 2010SAM Downtown(1st Ave & Union St.)Kick off your summer with ART ATTACK, June 25, 7-10 pm! Catch great music, dancing and gallery tours led by the SAM Teen Advisory Group. Make buttons, posters and screen prints. Plus, see the great exhibitions on icons Kurt Cobain and Andy Warhol.Live performances kick off at 8 pm.ART ATTACK is FREE for all high school students. If you are a high school student please email [email protected] to request your tickets.
Experience Music Project seeks new members for the 2010-2011 Youth Advisory Board (YAB)! The mission of this program is to connect teenagers to the Northwest's all ages arts and music scene by giving them an opportunity to be a driving force in EMP's teen programming. YAB members are invited to create and promote teen programs, work with local musicians and artists, meet other creative types in the community, and help out with Sound Off!, EMP's annual battle of the bands.Youth Advisory Board members have the opportunity to: * Screen and discuss Sound Off! battle-of-the-band submissions. * Assist at events like Bumbershoot, Sound Off! and more. * Create a youth voice at EMP|SFM and assist in getting other teenagers involved. * Help showcase EMP|SFM programs to the greater Seattle community. * Get an inside peek at museum exhibits and special events. * Write, participate and network in EMP|SFM's online community. * Write, participate and network in EMP's online community devoted to the NW's all-ages music/arts scene (thesoundboard.ning.com).YAB Membership Requirements: * Must be high school aged, complete the YAB application. * Attend meetings twice a month at EMP on Thursday early-evenings. * Have a basic knowledge of and enthusiasm for music. * Members will be expected to commit to serving on the board for 9 months.Application Information: * Online applications available here * Applications are due by June 28. * All applicants must provide a recommendation letter and work sample (ex: music you have performed, a paper you have written, a creative writing sample, a poem, a sketch, a collage, photography, video, etc...More Information at EMP's website
This opportunity being offered by a local arts institution which we all know and love (but who's name must remain a secret!) Earn money for your opinions.Seeking Teens for Focus GroupsA local cultural institution is seeking teens to participate in focus groups that will be held in Seattle in June 21 - 23. The focus groups will concentrate on how teens communicate, their perceptions of the institution and what may attract/discourage them to visit. This research will inform the institution as they develop new technology-based experiences for teens. Focus group participants will be compensated with $75 for participation. Interested participants should contact 206-241-6050 and ask for Tom or Bonnie or send an email to [email protected] and reference "Teen groups on June 21st-23rd."
A cute little preview from Washington Ensemble Theatre's Queer Teen Ensemble Theatre (QTET) for their new show, Breaking Character. Please do enjoy.
The Ensemble Presents: BREAKING CHARACTER from Washington Ensemble Theatre on Vimeo.
