TeenTix Blog by TeenTix

I’ve spent the last two months interning for TeenTix. I’ve done many projects but the one that I had the most fun with and had the biggest takeaways from was interviewing teens who are a part of TeenTix in the Mentorship for Teen Artists of Color (M-TAC) program and the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP). Before being selected to work at TeenTix, I knew that this was the site I wanted to spend my time at and I was very grateful to get that opportunity. I was excited to see more of what TeenTix was about and how they help the youth in my community.

I’m glad to say I was pleasantly surprised. In doing these interviews I have found that TeenTix has accomplished so many great things and it makes me feel good to see that people still care about the youth and their interest and helping them succeed. I have also learned that the programs TeenTix offers have a really positive effect on the teens that participate. My interview project really helped me see that. I got to hear from teens who have put a lot of time and work into programs like M-TAC and TAP. Hearing their experiences and growth warmed my heart.

The scariest thing is often a blank canvas. From galleries to improv shows to explore, where do you start to choose which arts events to see? For many of us, time is precious. It’s true—we want to see, discover, and learn everything under the—rarely visible—Seattle sun, especially for art-lovers like us. However, with time taken up by school, theater, clubs, work, etc., it’s not always possible.

What to do? Never fear! TeenTix’s New Guard is here—we’ll give a few tips, tricks, and recs to find the next inspiring art exhibition, “whimsical” play, or impactful film.

The New Guard: Teen Arts Leadership Society trains teens to become the next generation of arts leaders. New Guardians connect with fellow teen arts-goers to explore the arts and culture in our community and learn from the people who make it happen. The New Guard meets twice a month. Once for an arts outing and second for a meeting with focus areas like youth arts advocacy, career exploration, and community building. This year they are partnering with ACT Theater in our first ever Community Partner Residency Program and working to program engaging activities at Community Day events this season. Keep an eye out for social media takeovers, blog posts, special projects, and more from this awesome group of teens!

The New Guard operates in line with the school-year schedule and runs continuously from September to June. Interested in the New Guard? Apply this spring to join the group for the 2024-2025 school year!

TeenTix is proud to announce the 2023/2024 Teen Editorial Staff. This year's Teen Editorial Staff (TEDS) is comprised of five teens: Aamina Mughal, Anna Melomed, Audrey Gray, Daphne Bunker, and Kyle Gerstel.

The TEDS are the leaders of the TeenTix Newsroom, and work to curate reviews and arts coverage for the TeenTix blog. Teen Editorial Staff members decide which TeenTix Arts Partners' events to cover each month, write an editorial about their curatorial choices, and assign Newsroom writers to review each event. TEDS members interface with TeenTix Arts Partners to set up press tickets for each review, and edit all Newsroom writing before it is published on the TeenTix blog. The Teen Editorial Staff is a group of skilled writers, editors, and leaders, who keep the pulse of the TeenTix Press Corps and the Seattle arts scene.

Public Works, a program at Seattle Rep, is dedicated to bringing theatre to everyone. Through partnerships with community-based organizations, Public Works brings free theatre classes, productions, and performances to people in the greater Seattle area. This August 25-27, The Public Works Team will be putting on The Tempest, completely free of charge. I sat down for a conversation with Ally Poole, Public Works Manager, Talia Colten, Public Works Assistant, and Donovan Olsen, Public Works Associate, to speak with them about their work and the importance of the Public Works Program.

What is Public Works?

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

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,

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.

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.

We're excited to share a full list of youth opportunities with the TeenTix community!

This list was compiled by TeenTix alum and current Partnerships, Education, and Grants Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Ashraf Hasham. Thank you Ashraf for compiling these great opportunities for young people!

Our GiveBIG Superstars have consistently helped TeenTix by Giving BIG to Teen Artists and Leaders! This year's theme is Changemakers: Teens Driving Cultural Change. We'd like to take the time to honor our Superstars and thank everyone who is able to give this year on May 3-4. We appreciate YOU!Introducing GiveBIG Superstar Kris Becker! Image featuring Kris Becker, a 2022 GiveBIG Superstar! How did you get involved with TeenTix?

I found TeenTix through the first-ever GiveBIG. I was running a GiveBIG campaign for the nonprofit where I was Executive Director, and the messaging and mission of TeenTix spoke to me and brought me joy. What's a memorable TeenTix experience you've had?

We're excited to share a full list of youth opportunities with the TeenTix community!

This list was compiled by TeenTix alum and current Partnerships, Education, and Grants Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Ashraf Hasham. Thank you Ashraf for compiling these great opportunities for young people!

The TeenTix Press Corps is collaborating with Edmonds Center for the Arts to present a Dance Journalism Workshop! This workshop is a three-weekend experience, with meetings on April 30, May 7, and May 14, 2022. You'll learn how to approach writing about dance, attend a performance of Jacob Jonas The Company’s CRASH ft. Okaidja Afroso, try your hand at writing a dance review.

Register now by signing up on THIS FORM!

TeenTix, in partnership with The Colorization Collective (a teen-run organization that promotes diversity in the arts) is excited to announce our 2022 Summer Cohort of our Mentorship for Teen Artists of Color (M-TAC) program. This program will specifically allow teen artists of color to hone their artwork under the guidance of professional mentors. This is a great way for teens to better their craft, build connections in the arts community, and present their art!

This mentorship is for teens interested in visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), writing (poetry, creative nonfiction, etc.) and performing arts (musical theater, acting, etc.). Teens will be put into either a visual arts, writing, or performing arts cohort, and each group will be paired with a professional mentor of color to create or workshop a piece specifically for the program showcase.SCHEDULE:

The Summer M-TAC program will run from 10 AM to 1 PM PST on the following dates:

Wednesday, July 6

Wednesday, July 13

Wednesday, July 20

Wednesday, July 27

Wednesday, August 3

There will also be an hour-long showcase on Wednesday, August 10.

All meetings are conducted virtually, via Zoom. Teens receive a per-meeting stipend for their participation.

Teens in the M-TAC program will also have the opportunity to participate in workshops during the school year, as well as present their finished work during the TeenTix Teen Arts and Opportunities Fair in June of 2023.

APPLY NOW!

Applications are open now and close at 11:59 PM PST on April 30, 2022. Applicants must be ages 13-19 and a current TeenTix member to participate. (Not a TeenTix member yet? Don't worry - sign up for free right here!)

If you need assistance filling out this application, please contact Anya Shukla at colorizationcollective@gmail.com.

We're excited to share a full list of youth opportunities with the TeenTix community!

This list was compiled by TeenTix alum and current Partnerships, Education, and Grants Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Ashraf Hasham. Thank you Ashraf for compiling these great opportunities for young people!

We're excited to share a full list of youth opportunities with the TeenTix community!

This list was compiled by TeenTix alum and current Partnerships, Education, and Grants Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Ashraf Hasham. Thank you Ashraf for compiling these great opportunities for young people!

Hi, TeenTix fam!

We’re so grateful to you for supporting our work! Together, we’re able to continue elevating and amplifying teen voices and breaking down barriers that keep young people from participating in arts and culture.

Calling all creative writers! Join us for a new series of FREE creative writing workshops, hosted by TeenTix in collaboration with On the Boards. In each Art Begets Art mini-workshop you’ll attend a performance at the On the Boards, then produce a piece of creative writing in response to the performance. Mini-workshops consists of three meetings: a pre-meeting to learn about the performance you'll be seeing, the performance itself, and a post-meeting to work on your creative writing.

You'll get to discuss the performance with other art-loving teens, meet the artist after the show, and receive individual mentorship from a professional writer on your work. There will also be an opportunity to publish your work on the TeenTix blog and receive a stipend for publication!

Hey TeenTixers,

We had a ball celebrating the Seattle arts scene at our annual Teeny Awards last week! Thank you for sharing your voice and telling us and our Arts Partners what you want to see from the arts community in the next year and beyond. From standing up for racial justice, to transporting us out of our homes, or even providing direct relief to artists impacted by the effects of the pandemic, all of these artists and partners responded to the challenges of the last year in distinct and powerful ways.

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 day of The Nutcracker each year. It is an AMAZING, annual tradition that draws teens from far and wide. YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!!