A Legacy of Internment & Immigration Detention

Review of Resisters: A Legacy of Movement from the Japanese American Incarceration presented at the Wing Luke Museum

Written by Teen Writer Maitreyi Parakh and edited by Teen Editor Esha Potharaju

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Resisters: A Legacy of Movement from the Japanese American Incarceration is an unintentionally misleading gallery. The impersonal nature from which history is often told is drastically subverted in this exhibit, featured at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience from October 14, 2022, to September 17, 2023. The gallery is a special exhibition designed by Scott Méxcal, written by Tamiko Nimura, and developed by Mikala Woodward. The exhibit is structured similarly to a maze, where you—placed into the shoes of Japanese Americans facing these aggressions—are led through the passage of time without being able to anticipate what will come up next.

Stories in history that are fraught with tragedy are often dulled down into easy, comprehensible individual values when they are retold. Retellings frequently pick and choose their facts simply by virtue of being a retelling. It would be impossible to cover every single event without meticulously recreating it step by step, as some parts are naturally lost over time. To only cover the certain pieces of the exhibit that remain would be an injustice to all the stories left untold—and to cover the entire exhibit as if it is a holistic record of internment camps would do the same. Instead of picking and choosing a few specific stories, this exhibit and review ask the viewer to put themselves through the experience of internment and view each possible story offered through their own lens. You can hear the recorded testimonies throughout the exhibits echoing through history, just as the exhibit is set up as a timeline that prevents you from seeing what's left to come.

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Iris' Picks for Bumbershoot 2023

Written by TeenTix Intern Iris Opal

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Hello! I’m Iris, an intern at Teentix, a solo music producer for 5 years, and a transsexual woman. My eclectic taste greatly influences my personal work, and informed my choices of artists from the Bumbershoot roster. I’m really excited to see the great selection of extremely talented acts that will be performing this year. They put a lot of effort into showcasing a diverse array of genres and artists in their roster. My choices from the lineup will feature genres such as: shoegaze, jazz, and punk music. After I give you a run-down on the artists I chose, I’ll give some recommendations for related music to check out #1 DOMi and JD Beck

DOMi, a French keyboardist, and JD Beck, an American drummer, are a contemporary jazz duo signed to Blue Note records, a label synonymous with some of the greatest jazz artists of all time. Some of my favorite jazz CDs feature Blue Note on the spine.

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The Eras Tour

Written by TeenTix Alumni Cordelia Janow

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The first time I saw Taylor Swift I was seven years old. I discovered Taylor through the song "You Belong With Me", and a week later, I knew the lyrics to all of her songs. In 2010, when Swift released Speak Now my mom took me and my best friend to see the Speak Now tour at the Tacoma Dome. Now, 13 years later, Taylor’s songs are still as appealing and perceptive as they were from the first listen. As I grew up, the lyrics captured new meanings and the new songs narrated my childhood through my early adulthood, where I knew what I was feeling because of how Swift wrote about it. I share this feeling with many Swifties who have all grown up with, through, and alongside Taylor’s music.

The Eras Tour brings me, and my fellow Swifties, right back through that journey, As Swift traverses through all of her albums, she takes us all on a journey through her past, which is inevitably tied to ours. The tour coincides with Swift's commitment to rerecording and releasing albums 1-6 in order to own her own masters, calling them “Taylor’s Version”s and adding in cut songs from the vault. This makes the show even more personal, as we know that she is actively reclaiming much of the songs she is singing- with "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" having been released just two weeks ago. As Taylor revisits each album, one at a time, we journey through high school hallways, remote cabins, soaring castles, and vast cityscapes that characterize the eras. Throughout the concert, Swift gives speeches and tells stories of how the albums came to be, and adds cheeky lead-ins to favorite songs. Swift invites her fans to feel everything with no shame. When she sings about heartbreak, we scream along, as the songs rip us apart and comfort us all at the same time. When she sings about love, we yearn to feel how she does, and when we do, we hold on tight to our partners. When she sings about youth and childhood, we relate to and remember those moments. Even non-fans who have found themselves at the concert with friends or family find themselves moved by the outpouring of emotion in Swift's lyrics, performance, and fanbase. As much as Taylor Swift is seen by her fans (72,000 a night), her fans are seen by her through her music, and the way she looks out into the crowd, as if she knows everyone else’s story like they know hers. Photo Courtesy of the Author

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All the World’s a Stage at GreenStage’s Shakespeare in the Park

Written by TeenTix Alumni Haley Zimmerman

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The opening of Romeo & Juliet takes on a special significance when performed at GreenStage’s outdoor Shakespeare in the Park. The play opens with a lovely little prologue summarizing the “two hours’ traffic of our stage” — the “star-crossed lovers,” their “misadventured piteous overthrows,” their “death-marked love.” It concludes:

“The which, if you with patient ears attend,

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Hedwig is Timeless

Written by Cordelia Janow, TeenTix Alumni

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The stage is set for a night of glamour and rock at Arts West’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. A sign in the corner reads “Black Trans Lives Matter”, inclusive pride flags sit on the desk, and the stage emanates Seattle’s Pioneer Square, setting up this modernized and localized interpretation of the show. The actors enter an exit as the audience finds their seats, checking on wigs, the soundboard, and whatever else Hedwig needs to start her show. When the show begins Hedwig (Nicholas Japaul Bernard) enters decked in pride flags and a contrasting American flag slung over her shoulders, but when she takes it off it reveals the confederate flag on the other side, immediately calling out the racist undercurrents of America. The opening speech, full of self-aware comments and Seattle-specific references, sets up a new vision for Hedwig: She exists in the modern day and the past, calling audience members to suspend their disbelief as she carries them through her story.

The modern-day aspects serve Hedwig well in addressing the issues that genderqueer and transgender people, especially those of color, face in America today. While staying true to the historical aspects of the show, Hedwig is timeless, referencing both old and new, reminding us that transgender people have been here and will continue to be here, and their stories deserve to be heard. The show's bones lend themselves to be manipulated and altered to fit the story that needs to be told at the time, and the actors and creative team do a fantastic job of sharing the story in a way that feels true to them and their artistry.

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Yes, "Yellowface" is good—but how are you interpreting it?

Review of Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Written by Teen Writer Yuena Kim and edited by Aamina Mughal

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Going into Yellowface, I was immediately enthralled. R. F. Kuang’s hallmarks—suffocating tension, her unflinching eye for critique, and messy-yet-compelling characters that horrify us, yet keep us engrossed in a compulsive, almost shameful pull—were all put on gleaming display.

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Examining Journalism through the Lens of Director Christie Zhao

Written by TeenTix Writer Raika Roy Choudhury

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Masterfully maneuvering the challenges of cultural and linguistic differences, Director Christie Zhao is dedicated to shining light on “essential truths” about our social and political realms through theater. Stumbling upon theater classes whilst pursuing, and soon achieving, a degree in computer science, Zhao unexpectedly “fell deeper and deeper” into its activist potential and culture. In March of 2022, after working in a software engineer role, Zhao even founded Yun Theatre, a nonprofit dedicated to building a multilingual theater community and creating radical theater in the Pacific Northwest.

To Director Zhao, “Journalism is a form of theater.” And theater, she notes, is “a space to bring people together to embody a story… either far or close to us,” where everyone can “reflect and experience at the same time.” Theater is important because it forces proximity to heavy issues, calling the audience’s attention and care to them. It is a medium that “embraces the subjectivity of journalism,” reflecting the “essential truth” of life. For Zhao, her genre of theater is a way to “reclaim the agency of [her] own language,” truly speaking to the versatility of the art form.

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House Shows: A Look into Live Performances

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Welcome to the eighth episode of the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP)! At TAP, we aim to uplift youth voices and artists in the music scene through access to education and critical discussion.

What could be more on theme than highlighting the wonderful youth artists in the Seattle area. In this episode, Olivia and Triona dig into some great music from up-and-coming artists and discuss the significance of being a young mucisian today. You'll hear great song clips and further music recommendations. Enjoy!

Funding for TAP provided by 4Culture

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Actors to Stage Shallow!

Review of Day after day on this beautiful stage at Henry Art Gallery

Written by Teen Writer Maitreyi Parakh and edited by Aamina Mughal

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Day after day on this beautiful stage at the Henry Art Gallery attempts a new take on modern art that unfortunately falls quite flat—despite the interactive 3D aspects of the exhibit. Sarah Cain presents a set with couches positioned for the viewer to look upon the stage, as the name suggests. Viewers are allowed to enter both portions of the exhibit, which takes advantage of the Henry's expansive ceilings to appear all-encompassing. The piece is considered a subversion of serious abstract art, in that much of the strokes that build up the world of this set appear childish and sloppy.

A common critique of abstract art is that it is, in fact, childish. The intention of the exhibit seems to twist this view by intentionally attempting to be less serious, overemphasizing the shock factor of its components in this effort. Cain expends so much energy in trying to convey what the portions of her piece represent, that the overall impact is actually rather underwhelming. Much of the time spent attempting to glean the meaning of the stage simply concludes with "this portion was meant to represent the sky, or the sun, or the grass." Though she clearly tries to launch opposition to the standards of abstract art, Day after day falls short.

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An Amateur’s Look at a Celebration of Ballet

Review of Worlds to Come at Pacific Northwest Ballet

Written by Yoon Lee and edited by Gabrielle Nomura Gainor

Pacific Northwest Ballet recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, a fact evident to anyone passing McCaw Hall’s front-door sign. Part of this commemoration included an experimental new performance: Worlds to Come, displayed every time I passed by the hall on my way to TeenTix meetings in the Seattle Center. Despite having little experience with PNB, or with ballet at all, this celebration drew in my curiosity—later, I found myself celebrating 50 years with them and anticipating many years to come.

Worlds to Come presents exactly what the name implies: choreographers on the cutting edge of the ballet world, imagining what the art form may yield in the coming century. Altogether the three segments of the performance—two of them world premieres—came together at about two hours long. Although the three varied in terms of tone, style, and classicality, all came together for a remarkably inspiring experience that toed the line between classical and innovative.

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Moth to a Flame: The Magnetism of the Moth Mainstage

Review of The Moth Mainstage at Seattle Arts and Lectures

Written by Aamina Mughal and edited by Vee Hua

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From the moment the lights dimmed in Benaroya Hall and the anticipatory applause echoed throughout the room, I felt as though the rest of the audience knew something I didn’t, as someone who had never before been to a Moth Mainstage show. I would later discover that the secret they were all privy to was the specific type of magic that comes with sharing intimate stories. The Moth is an organization that emphasizes the importance of storytelling through their podcast and their live events. Moth events are generally composed of a few storytellers, and this event included five speakers, professional and otherwise. The atmosphere at the show was immediately larger than life, aided by the enigmatic host, Jon Goode.

Knowing that I had to write an article at the end of the show, I diligently pulled up a notes page on my phone and dimmed the screen brightness. My plans were foiled by Goode. He started the show by having the audience pull out their phones and turn on their flashlights, mimicking fireflies - and then asked us to turn them off. I’m immensely glad I did, as the stories told at the Moth can only be experienced with one’s full attention.

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Local Youth Artists You Should Listen To

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Welcome to the seventh episode of the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP)! Here at TAP, we aim to uplift youth voices and artists in the local music scene through access to education and critical discussion. This month’s episode is on local youth artists, featuring interviews with Chloe Bilstad, Jack Frost, and Knight. Listen as they discuss what songs they're most proud of, how their music connects to their identity, and which other artists inspire their work!

Funding for TAP provided by 4Culture

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"Sweeney Todd" is a Color-Conscious Triumph

Review of Sweeney Todd at The 5th Avenue Theater

Written by Teen Editor Kyle Gerstel and edited by Press Corps Mentor Omar Willey

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In the program for Sweeney Todd at The 5th Avenue Theatre, director Jay Woods states that her team has “been granted the privilege to investigate th[e] text in the way the late great Stephen Sondheim felt was most important,” to put “risk-taking at the heart of creation.” I assume Woods is talking about the production’s use of color-conscious casting, drawing parallels between one of the most famous revenge plots of all time and contemporary race relations. Although the casting is bold and artistically effective, the production is most impressive because of its consistently strong performances and stunning marriage of design and direction.

Sweeney Todd is wildly popular because it is the rare thoughtful musical theater spectacle. It’s also rare as a mainstream musical centered around cannibalism. The plot is structured so the show is always a few steps ahead of the audience, delivering a satisfying and unexpected narrative without relying on shock value. The score is uniquely atmospheric and the text’s use of dramatic irony is delightful. However, the slow pace often took me out of the world of the show.

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Theatre in a Gym: Heartwarming Step by Performers Inspires New Talent

Written by TeenTix Writer, Adrija Jana

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As an elementary school student, Daira Rodriguez remembers being excited to go on a field trip to a show of Annie the Musical. However, when a sudden thunderstorm led to plans being canceled, the theatre team decided to come in and perform in the small gym inside the school, with nothing but costumes and props. Something about the gesture struck a chord with Daira, which it seems, never stopped resonating. A professional director, Daira recounts: "Honestly, I don’t know what it was about that grand gesture that made me beg my mom to sign me up for a youth theatre immediately afterwards—but I did. It was the first community I felt part of and the one I’ve consistently sought since. Something stuck I guess!"

Having decided to make a career in theatre, Daira admits that it has not always been easy, nor would it be, especially if you are not a male director. "For my family, it was about showing them that I was committed and that I could do it…And a responsible amount of lying—I was supposed to double major in something practical!"

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The Boxes We’re Kept In: Humanizing the Mythical Feminine

Written by TeenTix Writer Esha Potharaju

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Told for thousands of years, ancient mythology seems intransigent. How can one alter something so long standingly accepted? Enter Carolynne “Caro '' Wilcox and Hannah Votel: two playwrights who’ve built their careers on challenging rigid narratives. Together, they’ve combined forces to write and direct The Boxes We’re Kept In, which retells--and completely subverts--three Greek myths that each follow a woman who appears to succumb to a unique form of temptation.

There’s Persephone, who eats a pomegranate that traps her in the Underworld despite the fact that she was warned against it. Psyche, who was instructed by the god of love, her husband, to never look upon his face (spoiler: she did anyway). And finally, Pandora, who is said to have been the first woman on Earth. Gifted a box that she could never open, Pandora gives in to her curiosity, only to realize that she’s released every plague on humanity that one could imagine.

“The common thread in these three pieces is these women aren’t necessarily told what would happen if they did the thing. They just expect you to make the right choice,” said Wilcox.

Describing how these mythical women are typically vilified or infantilized for their choices, Votel said, “People have these preconceived notions of these characters.” Their goal with the play is to challenge such notions. Rather than painting a picture in black and white, Wilcox and Votel chose to represent them as complex, relatable characters who possess flaws, strengths, and desires.

Plays in this style aren’t new to Wilcox. Greek theater captivated her early in her life, which led to her decision to do something from Ancient Greece for her graduate school performance thesis. But there was one pitfall: “The thing that’s really annoying,” said Wilcox, ”is that so many of the Greek female characters are so passive and unresponsive. They’re often not the protagonists in their own stories.”

Wilcox knew that instead of following a preexisting Greek story, she had to write one of her own. The result was Loom, which casts the three Fates of Greek myth as its protagonists. Loom explores the agency of these female figures, a theme which is also prevalent in The Boxes We’re Kept In. “With a snap of the fingers,” said Wilcox, “a woman can be deemed as somebody who made a terrible choice that destroyed the entire world and all of its creations because she dared to open a box. Or she dared to follow an intriguing man down into the underworld. Or she dared to have the desire to look upon her husband’s face. These are all very simple choices that anybody could have made. And I think that these stories and these characters would be looked at in a very different light if they were men.”

In addition to subverting mythos of the female archetype, The Boxes We’re Kept In also challenges the notion of what theater can look like. The play is fully relayed in audio format. A singular actor plays a variety of roles through the usage of voice modulation technology. “Theater doesn’t have to look like a proscenium stage where the audience sits in the back and claps their hands and then leaves,” said Votel, who has been acting since the fourth grade. Their desire to overcome “this Eurocentric and able-bodied norm that we have right now” stems from their personal experiences as someone who is physically disabled. “Theater still exists--it’s valid and valued--even when it’s not big and everyone is doing high kicks and twirling around…Just because we don’t usually see [voice modulation], it’s not necessarily lesser than. Part of the goal is to put out a piece of theater that’s unlike something that some people have seen.”

Wilcox and Votel’s commitment to breaking the molds of myth and theater shines in this fresh new piece. The plights of Persephone, Psyche, and Pandora, while immortalized, have never before been told in this way. By pushing the boundaries of storytelling, the two playwrights demonstrate that imagination will allow them to dismantle established narratives and reshape them into meaningful, resonating tales.

The Boxes We’re Kept In is presented as part of the Strawberry Jam Director's Festival running June 8th-July 8th, 2023. With new titles every weekend, SJAM is dedicated to providing local directors with the opportunity to grow their craft through practice. Check out the full SJAM 2023 Line Up Here

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Music Production in a Modern World

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Welcome to the sixth episode of the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP)! Here at TAP, we aim to uplift youth voices and artists in the music scene through access to education and critical discussion.

In this episode, Josh and Triona discuss how music production has shifted in our new, digital age and how it has allowed artists to pursue music non-traditionally. We highlight why DIY production methods are so important to the ever-changing music scene and give our own insight on how this impacts the broader music industry. Listen in for a fascinating discussion on one of music’s most evolving topics!

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Caught up in a Wave at Ballard’s National Nordic Museum

Written by TeenTix Alumni, Haley Zimmerman.

An afternoon at Ballard’s National Nordic Museum, a brand-new TeenTix partner, left me oriented and disoriented — both, I would say, in a good way.

The disorientation was immediate and obvious. Within minutes of collecting my free ticket — the National Nordic doesn’t charge on the first Thursday of every month — I pushed through the heavy doors of their new exhibit FLÓÐ into pitch blackness. FLÓÐ was designed by Icelandic singer Jónsi as an immersive museum experience meant to simulate the ocean, but none of that was clear to me as I walked in. All I knew was that it was very, very dark, and that I nearly walked into a fellow museum-goer who hissed a quiet “excuse me” (visitors to FLÓÐ are asked to remain as silent as possible).

Then the lights came up, sort of. FLÓÐ is lit by a single strip across the ceiling, which darkens and brightens and undulates in time with the sound, which is composed by Jónsi and evokes the ocean without really sounding like the ocean. Instead of the crashing of water, it’s made up of choral recordings and vaguely electronic sounds, but it moves up and down like a wave. Sometimes the music and the lights are regular and rhythmic, like a calm sea, and sometimes storms seem to sweep through. Occasionally, the pitch darkness returns.Courtesy of the National Nordic Museum

Eventually, you’ll catch your bearings in FLÓÐ — it’s really just a long room, with a strip of lights on the ceiling and speakers along the walls — and start to get bored. I’d encourage you to linger, even after that. When I forced myself to stay, and keep watching the lights, I stopped thinking about lunch or my article assignment or what-have-you and focused on the ocean.

Still, FLÓÐ is a place you stay only for 10 or 20 minutes, maybe a few more if you’re exceedingly patient and meditative. It’s a good metaphor for my general experience of the National Nordic: a lovely place to drop into, one with a relatively low barrier to entry, that rewards a short visit or a longer one and that rewards multiple viewings. Regardless of whether you end up at the National Nordic on a regular day or a free-admission first Thursday, FLÓÐ will cost you $5 — either included in $5 general admission though the TeenTix pass, or as an add-on to your free ticket to the rest of the museum.

The rest of the museum is where I got better oriented in Nordic culture. The National Nordic does a very good job of generalizing where it’s appropriate and emphasizing individuality when it’s helpful. The rest of the ground floor is an exhibit broken down by country, highlighting a cultural practice from each county. It was useful for me, someone with only a passing familiarity with most Nordic countries, but it seemed just a bit reductive — not all of Danish culture can be encapsulated in the trendy notion of hygge, for example.Courtesy of the National Nordic Museum

This exhibit included a panel about the indigenous Sámi people, whose cultural region, called Sápmi, extends into Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. On the back wall played a video about the experience of Nordic people of color and their relationship with the stereotypes and ideals of their home countries.

Upstairs was my favorite exhibit, a long and comprehensive timeline of Nordic history. It was exceptionally well-done: accessible to an outsider, clear, and rich with more information than I could conceivably read in a single sitting. The curation of the objects in the room also benefited from the National Nordic’s wide-ranging look at history, featuring everything from Viking longboats to brightly-colored Scandinavian chairs and bicycles.

It’s the objects that really shine at the National Nordic, the clothes and the furnishings and the memorabilia and the doohickeys. It’s easy to get distracted staring at the rigging on a model ship or the stitching on the traditional dresses on display. Everything is vibrantly colorful and interesting and simply lovely; the Scandanavians know what they’re doing when it comes to design. At the National Nordic, take time to stop reading and look up from the plaques, timelines and information to appreciate everything visual that’s on offer.

It’s conceivable to see the entire museum in an hour or two, and that includes time to stop by Freya, the café and bakery on the first floor that serves unique Nordic baked goods. The National Nordic is great to drop by during an afternoon out in Ballard — walk around the shops, grab some lunch, then stop at the museum for a little while. (Just don’t try for lunch at Rachel’s Bagels, as your erstwhile TeenTix writer did, because while they’re open until 1pm, they were nearly cleaned out of bagels at noon. Let that one be a breakfast activity.

The beauty of the National Nordic is the beauty of FLÓÐ: it can be enjoyed relatively briefly, but there’s a lot of depth to it, benefitting both a short and a long visit. For just $5, you too could find yourself both oriented and disoriented in Nordic culture. This summer, take that principle and have a museum summer. Grab your TeenTix pass, find a cool little spot, and add some gallery-gazing, sonic-immersion-experiencing and baked-good-eating to your days out and about in Seattle.Courtesy of the National Nordic Museum

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You're Lookin' Swell, Dolly!

Written by Cordelia Janow, TeenTix Alumni

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As the curtain rises for Village Theatre's opening night of “Hello, Dolly!” in Issaquah, it is clear how much love and creative genius has been put into the production. The musical follows Dolly Levi (Bobbi Kotula) as she does what she does best: meddling. In a series of shenanigans, Dolly arranges love for three happy couples, and eventually, herself. “Hello, Dolly!” is full of iconic songs for musical theatre lovers, hilarious moments, and most importantly, love, with Dolly at the center of all of it. This production is impeccable, hitting every mark and then some. The stage is filled with the joy and livelihood of all the performers, designers, and creative team.

Bobbi Kotula is a standout, clearly born to play Dolly Levi. Upon her first entrance, the crowd burst into wild applause, anticipating her brilliance in the role. Kotula is everything that Dolly should be and more. She was completely in control of the stage, just as Dolly is in control of her world. Every moment was brought to life beautifully as Kotula created a nuanced portrayal of one of the most iconic Broadway characters. From the hilarious foolery of “Motherhood”, to the tear-jerking ballad of “Before the Parade Passes By”, Kotula captured the lively spirit of Dolly with her own quirks and interpretations. In a crowd-favorite moment, Kotula spoke back to an audience member's reaction that was a bit too loud, working it seamlessly into the scene. The command that Kotula had of the stage was palpable, and always kept the audience excited for more. Photo Courtesy of Angela Sterling

The rest of the cast shined alongside Kotula, bringing their own flare to the stage. Allen Fitzpatrick as Horace Vandergelder is the perfect grumpy old man whos loveable side is brought out by none other than Dolly herself. Markcus Blair and Rhys Daly take to the stage as Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, Vandergelder’s overworked employees who orchestrate a day off to find love and entertainment in New York City. Their plot pays off when they meet Irene Malloy (Jessica Skerritt) and Minnie Fay (Sarah “SG” Garcia), who they are each enamored with, respectively. Skerritt is lovely as Irene, sensible yet still romantic and fun-loving with a beautiful voice. Garcia’s Minnie is adorable and quirky, always a joy on the stage. The ensemble brings the world of “Hello, Dolly!” to life, with exuberant dancing, powerful vocals, and stand-out character bits.

Village Theatre’s “Hello, Dolly!” puts women at the forefront of decision-making. Though the time period of the play itself and when it was written may hold some outdated ideals, the power of women's voices still shines throughout this production. Early on, the men of the show sing a tune called “It Takes a Woman” in which they list off things that only women can do, mainly household chores. Though this song may seem regressive, the tone and directorial choices in this production highlights the misogyny and incompetency of the men, rather than actually enforcing gender roles. Photo Courtesy of Angela Sterling

Additionally, the men in this play are generally helpless without Dolly’s assistance, which is highlighted by the acting and staging choices made. This is seen in Dolly’s stratagem to win Vandergelders heart, along with her meddling in Cornelius and Barnaby’s love lives. Feminist movements of the time were acknowledged on stage as well, with signs for the women's suffrage movement being held up during the parade. This moment of the show was very moving, as it set the play in context with greater American politics at the time. And, in the most iconic moment of the show, Dolly’s praises are sung by a crew of men upon her return to the Harmonia Gardens. In another powerful yet subtle moment, the choreography highlights queer couples, emphasizing the beauty of love in every form. This production sings the praises of Women’s power and updates its staging to celebrate all types of love.

“Hello, Dolly” at Village Theatre is a creative masterpiece and a beautiful celebration of love and joy for all. The production is reminiscent of classic Broadway, with elaborate costumes and set pieces that perfectly capture the idolized New York City where everything is shiny and perfect. The iconic music is played brilliantly by the orchestra and the performers exude happiness in every moment, making even simple entrances feel epic and profound. There is something in this show for everyone, as Village Theatre brings an old classic into the modern world.

"Hello, Dolly" runs at Village Theatre until July 30th. In Issaquah, MAY 24 – JUL 2, 2023 In Everett, JUL 7 – JUL 30, 2023

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Soundtracks and Scores: The Tonal Foundations of Film

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Welcome to the fifth episode of the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP)! Here at TAP, we aim to uplift youth voices and artists in the music scene through access to education and critical discussion.

In this episode, Olivia and Xandra discuss the musical aspects of film and television. We define the difference between a soundtrack and a score, explore the impact audio has on stories told through a primarily visual medium, and share a few of our own favorite musical backdrops from movies and TV. Tune in for some nerdy insight into the ways music can shape our experience of stories!

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