TeenTix Blog TeenTix Events

When the summer heat dies down and the yellow buses start running again, you know it’s Teeny Awards time!

WHAT IT IS

The Teeny Awards celebrate the things teens (aka Seattle’s trendsetting young taste-makers) love in our local arts & culture scene! The winners are selected by popular vote — in other words, YOU choose which shows, exhibits and organizations should receive coveted awards such as “Best Aesthetics,” “The Treat Yo’ Self (or our favorite thing to see during finals week) Award” or “Best Front-of-House Experience.” We’ll send you everything you need to know about voting soon.

In the meantime, get excited!!!

Happy Spring! I’m Katherine and I’m back with more recommendations from The New Guard, TeenTix’s youth leadership board. During March, we saw many different plays, films, and art exhibits. Some of our personal favorites were the Moisture Festival, SIFF movies, and Dry Powder at Seattle Rep (which is still running!). What did you see in March?

This month, we have three main recommendations. Firstly, the amazing Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor exhibit opening at the Pacific Science Center is going to be the hottest ticket in town. It’s “an immersive investigation of the science behind priceless artifacts including real figures from the terracotta army” and it sounds SO cool! PacSci recently became a FULL TeenTix partner so you can see the special exhibits (in addition to the IMAX educational films and Laser Dome shows) for only $5. Don’t miss this epic show!!

As all you old school TeenTixers know, Pacific Northwest Ballet's wildly popular Nutcracker ballet is the only PNB show all year that is not TeenTix eligible. However, because they love us so much, PNB always puts aside a little stash of TeenTix tickets for one Nutcracker performance each year. It is an amazing, annual tradition that draws teens from far and wide. You won't want to miss it.

And this year, there's a new Nutcracker in town. PNB’s production of George Balanchine's Nutcracker features all new sets and costumes designed by children’s author and illustrator Ian Falconer (Olivia the Pig). This year's TeenTix-able Nutcracker show is Sunday, December 27th, 2015 at 5:30 PM.

The Teeny Awards are TeenTix’s teen choice awards for regional arts and cultural organizations and events. This year, we decided to honor a real-life teen, nominated by their peers! Here are the youth advocates nominated this year:

WALKER CAPLAN Walker Caplan is thrilled to be nominated alongside so many inspiring teens by such an amazing, far-reaching youth arts access program. She is the founder and producer of 14/48: HS (The World’s Quickest Student Theater Festival), which brings teens of diverse experiences together to create powerful and relevant theater in a supportive, risk-encouraging environment. Over the last year 14/48: HS brought together students from 18 different public and private schools in the Seattle area and was lauded as a stand-out event by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. Walker serves on Seattle Children’s Theatre’s Teen Advisory Group as well as having volunteered there throughout high school. Her writing has been recognized by The Adroit Journal, Polyphony H.S., Scholastic Arts and Writing, Young Playwrights Inc., and Blank Theatre. She is a YoungArts 2015 winner in writing, and her original plays have been performed in New York and Seattle. She volunteers as an editor for Young Playwrights for Change and Polyphony H.S., and edits and teaches prose writing at Winter Tangerine Review. When she’s not advocating for the arts, Walker may be found acting with Seattle Musical Theatre, STAGEright Theatre, Seattle Public Theatre, YATC, and Lungfish Productions among others. She’s inspired by the vibrancy and inclusion of the Seattle arts community.

What if we told you that answering a single question could win you 1 teen ticket + 1 adult ticket for our upcoming special event, LOLZapaOOPSa? WHAT IF!? BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE'RE TELLING YOU.

A special donor has donated two tickets (1 for a member, and 1 for a companion adult) for this Thursday's event to give away to one lucky winner who can answer this question correctly:

​'Tis the season of spook, and our partner organizations are delivering quite a scare! Here's a comprehensive guide to All Hallow's Eve events around Seattle.

Shredder Orpheus @ On the Boards Oct 31 @ 9:00 PM Ages 16+

All month long, we'll be sharing these videos of TeenTix members talking about memorable arts experiences, so check back often. Want to submit a video? Hooray! Just send the link (YouTube, Dropbox, or some other cloud-type situation) to info@teentix.org.

Click here to donate to TeenTix. You will be redirected to the website of our fiscal sponsor, The Seattle Center Foundation. Be sure to choose 'Teen Tix' from the 'designation' dropdown menu. Thank you!

All month long, we'll be sharing these videos of TeenTix members talking about memorable arts experiences, so check back often. Want to submit a video? Hooray! Just send the link (YouTube, Dropbox, or some other cloud-type situation) to info@teentix.org.

Click here to donate to TeenTix. You will be redirected to the website of our fiscal sponsor, The Seattle Center Foundation. Be sure to choose 'Teen Tix' from the 'designation' dropdown menu. Thank you!

A couple weeks back, we held a little ol' party for our organizations called The Teeny Awards. Ahhh, we remember it well. The lights, the music, the outrageously awesome outfits. Anywho, just recently, Seattle Symphony contacted us so they could throw a party of their own for the TeenTix members they love so much! Here's what they had to say:

Thank you Teen Tix members for awarding us not one, but TWO 2013 Teeny Awards! We are thrilled. Moved. Astounded. Excited. Amazed. INSPIRED! The SSO loves Teen Tix as much as Beethoven loved his pianos, as much as Mozart loved his powdered wig. (Seriously. That is a lot of love.) You are the boldest listeners in Benaroya Hall and the future of our art form. To show our appreciation for this honor, we invite you to join us for a special concert and event. MOZART’S SYMPHONY NO. 29 Saturday, October 19, at 8pm Stilian Kirov, conductor Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola Jordan Anderson, double bass Maria Mannisto, soprano Seattle Symphony MOZART: Divertimento for Strings in D major, K. 136/125a DITTERSDORF: Sinfonia concertante for Viola and Double Bass MOZART: Exultate, jubilate, K. 165 MOZART: Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201/186a Meet us before the concert at the Teen Tix check-in table at the entrance to the Samuel & Althea Stroum Grand Lobby to pick up your ticket and a surprise gift. After the concert, join us for an EXCLUSIVE reception in our backstage Green Room featuring a Q&A with Seattle Symphony Associate Conductor Stillian Kirov! Tickets are just $5 for TeenTix members (duh) and $5 for your guests (of any age!) too! Want to come? Great! You need to RSVP to info@teentix.org by 5 PM on Wednesday, October 16th. Please include your full name, phone number, and the number of people you are RSVPing for (max. 1 ticket + 1 guest ticket per TeenTix member). And, FYI for those guests: the post-show reception is TEENS ONLY. Parents can come with you to the show, but only teens are invited to the reception. Sorry, folks. Thems the rules.

Jinkx Monsoon looks so LOVELY tonight! She has such a great voice, and it's so fun to see a "different" kind of theater.

17 sold out shows in New York but Jinkx says she doesn't plan on moving to the east coast. "There's something special happening in the Northwest and Seattle's the epicenter of it."

Jinkx epitomizes the best of drag. Belting "Survivor," her incredible performance is in no way dependent on her being in drag. She's got the voice and charisma to be a great performer regardless of what she's wearing.

-Kally

This theater's definitely interesting. They're partaking in a New Works Program where new shows are being developed constantly.

"Pump Up the Volume" is a rock theater show adapted from the movie with the same title. Great singing and covers a sensitive topic relatable for youth everywhere.

JERRY JERRY JERRY JERRY

We've all probably seen the TV series in one way or another. The distinctive chant is too memorable and the people's stories are so strange that we have to keep watching. The Balagan Theater's fourth show is Jerry Springer the Opera.

Jerry Springer and opera at first seemed a bit contradictory. I couldn't quite imagine heckling and fist fights to the sound of an orchestra. When Jerry Speinger emerged sporting a bow tie and sorrounded by a chorus, the show still wasn't screaming beer and riotous crowds. The lyrics are what reveal the show's genius satire. The tune may sound like a traditional broadway hit, but the content is anything but classical. Jerry Springer is Rent (in-your-face rock music) and The Book of Mormon's (satire) very lovable, if slightly disfunctional child. I can't wait to see it all grown up later this season.

-Kally P.

When I got here, the line went beyond the corner of the street. Moore Theater is packed today! The theater's absolutely beautiful and I'm so excited for the event to start.

Teen Steering Committee member Tucker C. reports on Teen Night at The K of D at Seattle Rep On Sunday, January 16, a group of over one hundred teenagers came to the Seattle Repertory Theatre. They thought they were there just to eat cake and mill around before watching The K of D, Seattle Rep’s edgy new play exploring urban legends. Little did they know, however, that they had just walked into my sinister, murder-tastic trap. As they milled around getting to know each other, I moved from table to table like a shadow, killing people as stealthily as I came. It should be noted that I am such a classy murderer that I need only inform people that I have killed them for them to die, no weapons required. All was going swimmingly until one wary witness caught me red-handed and turned me in, ending my homicidal streak and winning the game. WATCH THE KAKE OF DEATH SLIDESHOW: After I was safely in prison (don’t get too comfortable, though—state budget cuts have me eligible for parole in two years!) other fabulous awards to the partygoers were given, including free tickets to those who could guess which Seattle urban legend was a fake. All of these fancy and fun events transpired, of course, while set to the teenageresque soundtrack of FREAKOUT. Some daring Teen Steering Committee members even tried to get some action moving on the dance floor, but to no avail. I can only assume that they were terrified danceless by the dangerous, suave, and very sexy murderer prowling about. Almost everyone, however, enjoyed some of the Kake of Death, which caused only a few less deaths than I did. Soon enough, everyone got their seats and enjoyed some quality theatre. It was truly an excellent play, and Renata Friedman is a total beast. She manages to portray at least fifteen different characters distinctly and seamlessly, ranging all over the stage as she flips between personalities to tell the story. As she weaves her own legend, you’ll find yourself leaning forward, intrigued and morbidly fascinated by the story.