TeenTix Blog by TeenTix

Our April Crush-of-the-Month comes out on Thursday, but we wanted to give you a little taste, for the building of the excitement. Yay!

I know what your taling about totally, i play music, and playing and singing on front of people is, im sure, just as nerve racking

Review of Morgan Thorson/Low: Heaven at On the Boards by Kaya P.My brother elbowed me in the arm “seriously” he mouthed directing his gaze towards the man onstage in a flowing white skirt. I may have told him we were going to see a live band....with some dancing, but how else was I to coerce my 20 year old brother into accompanying me to a modern dance show? The dancers moved around an almost bare stage. Everything from the floors to the costumes was in shades of white. Two of the dancers who are from the band low; would break away periodically to play the instruments on stage. Even while playing they remained part of the dance. The group came together for choral arrangements that were indeed heavenly! Usually the singing would come forth slowly from silence.Overall I thought the piece was beautiful and fun to watch. The dancers seemed to bring the notes to life. While watching I thought the tantrums the dancers would break into destroyed the harmony of the piece; until afterwards I was milling about the lobby and, my brother said “there were some parts that were really nice to watch” “really?” I asked “yea” he replied. “I don’t think the point is to LIKE or be COMFORTABLE with all of it” I was surprised to hear this coming from him. He’s right though. There are parts which make you squirm, but who is totally comfortable with the idea of heaven? The concept leaves so many questions unanswered. I guess I can see why the thought of it would make you want to scream. I say this is a must see! Bring someone you normally wouldn’t think to; you might be pleasantly surprised by the perspectives they have to share.- Kaya P.April 2nd, 2010Morgan Thorson/Low: Heaven runs through Sunday at On the Boards. The show has been selling out, but if you want to see it, don't give up! There will be a wait list every night and people on the wait list usually get in. Go! More info at ontheboards.org

Post # 3: We’ll Give Ourselves New Names(Wait! What is this? Skip to the bottom for an explanation.)It’s hard to put my experience into palatable prose… I don’t know where to start and I don’t know where to end. I mostly ended up with a bunch of questions. I’m going to use one of the notes that Bianca gave me at the beginning to structure my response.

Photo by Anne LawrenceAs I approached the site for my solo, I was pulled intensely toward the experience but I also felt like running away. I couldn’t leave, though, as much as I wanted.When I arrived, Bianca gave me letters. Letters are a huge part of my life, and reading them soothed me. She gave me an iPod, and asked if I was ready. HA! Ready as I could ever be. We sat down back to back, heads touching, and listened to the sounds of the skate park, which I love. I was nervous, but I don’t know why—I felt like it was my first day in a new place.

Photo by Anne Lawrence

Bianca knew that I love singing along to my favorite songs. Despite my love of singing along, I'm very self-conscious about it… which is why when Bianca said she was going to sing her song to me, and I could choose any song from the playlist (a list of my favorite songs) on the iPod to sing to her, I realized exactly how far off in the distance my comfort zone was. We faced each other and we sang, displaying ourselves unabashedly for each other. I was surprised by how effortlessly I could let go of my fear and my discomfort. It was uncomfortable and perfect.The next song I chose was for her to dance her dance. She danced another introduction, encouraging me to feel where I was and what I was doing much more strongly. Our roles became clear: Without one of us, this wouldn’t be happening.Watch the video of Bianca's dance for MykailaThen she danced me. She showed something stunning to me—it was something I had never seen before but that I somehow knew. She ran away, and I stood up. I had intended to follow her, but curbed that impulse as soon as it came to me. I stood there, not sure what to do, until I realized that I didn’t have to hold back—I could follow my whim: it would be honest. Dodging and turning, we circled the skate park. Nobody knew what was going on—maybe not even us.Bianca certainly (though I’m not TOTALLY sure how) figured out my inhibitions and confronted them with me. After she presented my dance she said, "You go behind that tree, and I’ll stay behind this tree, and we will both dance. Dance party style." I couldn't say no, no matter how freaked and self-conscious I felt. HEY EVERYBODY COME SEE ME CONFRONT MY FEARS!I am so grateful for Bianca and her role in this project. I’m not sure how to appropriately thank her for the openness, kindness, love, and honesty with which she treated me and approached the solo… but I’m working on it.

Photo by Anne Lawrence

If you hate money, stop reading.Okay, the rest of you: the Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is on right now. It works like a coffee card for art: everytime you use your Teen Tix pass in the next 5 months, get your card stamped. When it's full, send it in. If we pull your card, you win. You win money. First prize is $200 (yes, two hundred dollars).What's the catch, you say? We applaud your wise skepticism, but there is none. Seriously. We just thought Teen Tix wasn't quite awesome enough already. Last time we did this, three actual live teenagers won actual dollars.Okay, we do have an ulterior motive: to get you to see more art at different places. The more different places you go and different kinds of art you see, the more money you can win. Passport to the Arts. Get it?Okay, go download your passport from our website and start collecting stamps. You have until July 9th, 2010 to fill up your card. Go go go!

I bet that was pan pan commenting you, i tried talking to those guys after the show and they were complete assholes.

SAM Next: Heide Hinrichs @ Seattle Art MuseumGerman-born Seattle-based artist Heide Hinrichs makes art out of stuff--everyday stuff, like dead soccer balls and string. In so doing, she makes the stuff transcend its ordinariness. She makes the stuff turn itself inside out and whisper its stories. "Stagger out into the light after losing everything and there are her sculptures on the floor, the flayed skin of soccer balls hung up on a wire or deflated inner tubes curled as if smoked in a fire." - Regina Hackett Through June 13th, 2010 at Seattle Art Museum seattleartmuseum.orgSAM Next: Heide HinrichsSeattle Art MuseumThrough June 13th, 2010Hours: Wednesday–Sunday: 10 am–5 pmThursday & Friday: 10 am–9 pmMonday & Tuesday: closed

If you hate money, stop reading.Okay, the rest of you: the Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is on right now. It works like a coffee card for art: everytime you use your Teen Tix pass in the next 5 months, get your card stamped. When it's full, send it in. If we pull your card, you win. You win money. First prize is $200 (yes, two hundred dollars).What's the catch, you say? We applaud your wise skepticism, but there is none. Seriously. We just thought Teen Tix wasn't quite awesome enough already. Last time we did this, three actual live teenagers won actual dollars.Okay, we do have an ulterior motive: to get you to see more art at different places. The more different places you go and different kinds of art you see, the more money you can win. Passport to the Arts. Get it?Okay, go download your passport from our website and start collecting stamps. You have until July 9th, 2010 to fill up your card. Go go go!

The Horse Boy @ SIFF CinemaHow far would you travel to heal someone you love? For one Texas couple, it means a spiritual journey halfway around the world to Mongolia. When their son is diagnosed with autism, they seek the best treatments but nothing works… Until they discover their son’s connection to horses and the effect it has on him. Part travel adventure and shamanic quest, this is the story of how one family found a gateway into understanding their son’s life.Watch the trailer:Saturday, March 27th at 1:00 PMSIFF Cinema

Opera, Undressed @ Cornish College of the ArtsIf you think of opera as lavish, overwrought spectacle that relates to actual life sort of not at all, you should check this out. Soprano Natalie Lerch performs two stunning one-woman operas: Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (1959) and Judith Weir’s King Harald’s Saga (1979). Here's the description of La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice) from Cornish's website:"Before the ubiquity of overheard cell phone conversations made the private-life details of passersby an everyday occurrence to our public ear, Francois Poulenc and Jean Cocteau constructed an opera comprised of only one side of an overheard telephone conversation. Their tour de force opera for solo soprano, La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice) brings the audience into the heroine’s bedroom to eavesdrop on her side of an emotional telephone call. Poulenc’s jagged, lush, and emotional score and Cocteau’s allusive and seductive libretto chart the soprano’s anguished search for strength as we listen vicariously to the story that unfolds."Um, yeah. That sounds kind of awesome, right?Natalie Lerch Opera Undressed – Three Acts, One WomanSaturday, March 27, 8:00 pmPONCHO Hall, Cornish College of the ArtsMore info at cornish.edu

Ching Chong Chinaman @ SiS Productions"Great laughs...unexpectedly moving" - Examiner.comMeet the Wong family: as all-American as apple pie. Ed likes to play golf, Grace wants another child, Desdemona is desperate to get into Princeton, and Upton is working towards gaming superstardom. When Upton gets an indentured Chinese servant to help him with his homework, life in the Wong household takes an interesting turn . . . Flipping every cliché about Asian American identity upside down, this award-winning play by Lauren Yee is an "exhilarating send-up" of the American dream.Watch the preview video for Ching Chong Chinaman, in which cast member Kathy Hsieh points out "It..deals with 4th & 5th generation Asian Americans...and there's a sensibility about it that I think will really be important for 20-somethings, teenagers, and college students."Follow the Wong family on twitterFan Ching Chong Chinaman on facebook.Ching Chong ChinamanPresented by SiS Productions at Richard Hugo House on Capitol HillMarch 16 - April 24more info.SIS Productions is a production company that strives to create, develop and produce quality works that involve Asian American women, their themes, and Asian American issues. SIS Productions encourages opportunities and support for Asian American women to be involved in all aspects of the production of artistic endeavors.

Poet Linda Gregg @ Seattle Arts & LecturesPlums Failing Wellby Linda GreggSo what if plums fallout of the tree, to liesquashed and decomposingon the earth? So what ifthe only attention they receiveis from the ants and birdswho find something in themto feed from still,all spayed and color changed?If they could breathe,do you think they would saymore than so what?This is good, to liveto the end as somethingto get taken. What wasthe ripeness for anyhow?Why should chromosomes blinkand twitch inside the seed,the pit at the middle, the vastearth-shaped center of allof this? So what if we liehere or there as pithin the cold night where the owlhoots at the stirring that willcompute into the dark colorof that calling and the groundwe leak into,small piece by small piece.Linda GreggSeattle Arts & Lectures at Benaroya HallThursday, March 25th @ 7:30 PM

If you hate money, stop reading.Okay, the rest of you: the Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is on right now. It works like a coffee card for art: everytime you use your Teen Tix pass in the next 5 months, get your card stamped. When it's full, send it in. If we pull your card, you win. You win money. First prize is $200 (yes, two hundred dollars).What's the catch, you say? We applaud your wise skepticism, but there is none. Seriously. We just thought Teen Tix wasn't quite awesome enough already. Last time we did this, three actual live teenagers won actual dollars.Okay, we do have an ulterior motive: to get you to see more art at different places. The more different places you go and different kinds of art you see, the more money you can win. Passport to the Arts. Get it?Okay, go download your passport from our website and start collecting stamps. You have until July 9th, 2010 to fill up your card. Go go go!

oh man. it really happened...

...here's a tiny snippet of what you missed:This is dancer Bianca Cabrera giving a solo to Teen Tix member Mykaila O. It's all part of a three-month project called A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light presented by Lingo Dance, ACT Theatre, and Seattle Art Museum.Read Mykaila's journal of the experience here.

VERY COOL!

We are thrilled to announce that the Bellevue Arts Museum is our newest participating organization!

Why is it called an "arts" museum instead of an "art" museum? Because the Bellevue Arts Museum is "the Pacific Northwest's center for the exploration of art, craft and design..." This means that, in additional to traditional visual arts like painting and sculpture, BAM's exhibits explore the art in everyday things - things that people actually use and wear - like, say, furniture, or shoes.Their current exhibit, Beth Levine, First Lady of Shoes is a perfect example. It showcases the work of footwear revolutionary Beth Levine, whose visionary designs for mules, stilettos, and fashion boots defined fashion footwear long before Sex and the City made Manolo and Choo household names. Bellevue Arts Museum is located right across from Bell Square at 510 Bellevue Way NE and has FREE parking!Hours:Mon - Thu 11 am - 5 pmFri 11 am - 8 pmSat & Sun 12 - 5 pmTeen Tix admissions are $5.00 all day, every day. On Thursday, Teen Tix admission are 2 for $10, so bring a friend or family member!For more information about Bellevue Arts Museum, check out their website: bellevuearts.org.

Teen Tixers, we need your help!Every day we hear stories from teenagers whose lives have been changed in big and small ways by getting the chance to see art through Teen Tix. Now we need your help to make sure that some other people - some important people - get to hear those stories, too. Can you take five minutes to record a short video explaining why Teen Tix is important to you? We've been making the arts accessible for teenagers for almost 6 years now. Over 13,000 teenagers have used a Teen Tix pass to attend the arts in Seattle since 2004. Your video could be the thing that makes it possible for all of us here at Teen Tix to keep doing what we do for years to come. It doesn't have to be fancy or long, just honest. Testify!Here's one, by Teen Tix member Tracy M., to get you started:Four ways to submit your video:1. Post it to our Youtube page as a video response to Jacob's video2. Email it to [email protected]3. Post it to our facebook fan page4. Post it as a comment to our myspace page.No video camera? No problem! Just send us an email explaining why Teen Tix is important to you. We may even send someone out to record you telling your story!The sooner we get your video, the sooner we can start putting it to good use. So go do one. Right now! It's better than doing homework, right?

Review of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company by Paulina PrzystupaI am not quite sure if The Two Gentlemen of Verona could have been any funnier, except, if I actually watched The OC or Keeping up with the Kardashians. Two Gents, playing now until April 11th at the Seattle Shakespeare Company, has something for every audience member and all those little gifts are all wrapped up in a really neat modern box.

Samie Detzer as Lucetta and Hana Lass as Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona at Seattle Shakespeare Company. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.The company decided to transplant the boot of Italy to the boot of California, bringing a very 21st century twist to the tale. The two gentlemen, Proteus (Daniel Brockley) and Valentine (Connor Toms) - although the term ‘gentlemen’ only really applies to their gender - are childhood buddies that get split up when Valentine decides to go to college and leave Proteus to his wooing of Julia (Hana Lass). However, a mix-up (not mixer) occurs and Proteus is also shipped away to school leaving Julia behind. However, at college Proteus finds himself falling for Valentine’s sweetheart, Sylvia (Emily Grogan). Enter occasionally tragic, mostly hilarious, shenanigans.The cast did an exceptional job at uniting the extreme modernity of their new ‘world' and the 500-year-old words of Shakespeare. So much so that I swear Shakespeare dreamed of text messages when he wrote lines like “my father calls.” While the show may be set in the extreme opulence of our techno-savvy times and take the shallowness of our reality-TV culture as a setting, it was incredibly moving. This was achieved by the ability of the entire cast to keep the words of Shakespeare genuine to the feelings of these confused youths.

Daniel Brockley as Proteus and Connor Toms as Valentine, the two gentlemen of Verona. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.

While setting it in “the rich do what they want” society could end up being the focus of the play it did not overshadow the story. They were able to balance the shallowness of rich 20-year-olds with how any person would feel in those situations. Young people go from one obsession to the next and always have a touch of bi-polarism. However it is also true that youth, and especially these, are not as defined by their society as the a reality TV show of them would suggest, and because of that anyone, even me who finds shows like The OC boring as hell, can identify with the Twilight-obsessed Julia and the beautiful and wealthy—yet kind—Sylvia.While those characters may be easy to dismiss on TV, the words of Shakespeare give them a depth of understanding that makes them regular people. It shows that although they may be rich and snobby they have problems that anyone, especially in their teenage years, can face.Also, on a sort of side-yet-parallel note, Crab was awesome. No other way to describe it. He was probably one of the funniest characters and most well acted. I won't give away that secret so everyone needs to go and see this play but just look out for him. Anyways The Two Gentlemen of Verona is playing until April 11th at the Seattle Shakespeare Company in the Center House Theatre. Tickets are only $5 for Teen Tix members and varying amounts over $20 for adults. Go and see it.- Paulina PrzystupaMarch 23rd, 2010The Two Gentlemen of VeronaSeattle Shakespeare CompanyThrough April 11th

Review of Brooklyn Boy at Taproot Theatre Company by Leah S.To an audience of elderly Jews raised in New York, Brooklyn Boy would be a hilarious play. To Jewish teens like me, it’s less funny. To everyone else, it falls short of entertaining.

Alex Robertson and Jeff Berryman in Brooklyn Boy. Photo by Erik Stuhaug

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies, Brooklyn Boy is the story of a successful middle-aged author who must return to the Jewish community in Brooklyn where he was raised to visit his ailing father. There, he is confronted by demons old and new: the failure of his marriage, the disapproval of his parents, and the constant reminder of a childhood he thought he had escaped.Brooklyn Boy fails to reach larger demographics than the one to which it is catered. Certain themes, such as Eric Weiss’ (Jeff Berryman) struggle to bridge the generation gap between himself and his father or Alison’s (Jesse Notehelfer) naïve attempt at seduction, ring truer than most others in the play. The Yiddish glossary in the program and my own knowledge of Jewish culture and experience with three Jewish grandparents allowed me to at least understand, and occasionally enjoy, many of the jokes and conflicts within the play. However, most Seattle teens would have trouble connecting with the subtleties of Jewish guilt, humor, and expectations. Older viewers might identify more clearly with Eric’s struggle to hold together a failed marriage, though Lisa Perreti’s performance as dissatisfied wife Nina was not wholly believable.

Nicholas Beach and Nikki Visel. Photo by Erik Stuhaug