TeenTix Blog

Review of The Whale @ SIFF Cinema by Samantha V.When we think about wild animals, we believe that the ways in which they communicate and interact with each other, if those are the right words, are so different from our own that they're almost alien. It's like there's an invisible wall separating us from them. But one little lost orca named Luna changed all that for the residents of Nootka Sound by just, well, being an orca.This documentary takes place on Vancouver Island which is part of the breath-taking country we call Canada. As you can imagine, the main character in this film is Luna. But there are so many others who play a critical role in his story. Like the First Nations who felt that Luna was a spirit and a blessing, the community who just wanted to know him better, and the wildlife officers who thought that Luna would be better off on his own. It was, dare I say it, a serious “tug of whale”. And that was not the only thing that was being tugged. My heart kept on going back to that adorable killer whale. So much so at times, that I wanted to reach right into the film and hug him. Anyway, through all this struggle, triumph had to come sooner or later and it did, for a little while.Throughout this documentary it was clear that Luna wanted something. Most likely friendship and that's just proof of how much an orca really needs their pod. You could look at him, and know that he was intelligent and that in some ways, you were equals. Maybe that's just me. All I know for sure is that Luna made me laugh and cry and laugh again with his antics. Though we communicate differently doesn't mean that we're all that different in a way. It's just another way that Luna took down a piece of that invisible wall. The WhaleThrough September 15SIFF Cinema

We take our job here at Teen Tix very seriously: How to make the arts more fun and accessible for YOU. But alas, we only know so much. So help us out by filling out this survey and telling us how much you use your pass, your past experiences with participating organizations, and even share your opinions about how to make the arts more teen-friendly. One lucky teen who fills out the survey will win a $50 gift card! What's not to like about that? Our survey runs through the end of this month, so hurry and enter your name for a chance to win the big bucks!

Polaroids by Andy Warhol @ Henry Art GalleryAndy Warhol. Princess Christine Carimati.Andy Warhol cherished his Polaroid Big Shot portrait camera. His models, ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Muhammad Ali would sit, pose, and be captured so that Warhol could then turn these photographs into his infamous screenprints. Polaroids by Andy Warhol represents his process, his passion, and over 100 of his artistic subjects in a serial exhibit at Henry Art Gallery.Polaroids by Andy WarholThrough October 30Henry Art Gallery

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The 6th Annual Seattle Bike-In @ NW Film ForumJoin NWFF at Cal Anderson Park this Saturday for the 6th Annual Bike-In. As always, it will feature live music and booths for and by Seattle bicyclists. However, this year the Bike-In will feature a LIVE SCORE to a classic bike movie. Quicksilver, starring Kevin Bacon, follows the life of a successful young floor trader who loses all of his money, then decides to become a bicycle messenger. Come early and stay late for this amazing outdoor bicycling extravaganza!The 6th Annual Seattle Bike-InSaturday, August 27 @ 6PMNorthwest Film Forum

I loved this movie. I found it to be both aesthetically gripping and informatively entertaining. It made me feel excited to live in this period of time, that there were important, constructive things happening - more than war or economic depression. I thought the most chilling possibility, however, was not the possibility of the waste being unearthed far into the future. When the movie mentioned that it is theoretically possible to rework nuclear waste, it hinted at a scenario in which people in the near future who know full well about radiation trying - and perhaps failing - to reuse the waste. As the director Michael Madsen states, we think of ourselves as a "potent society."

Travelers: Objects of Dream and Revelation @ Bellevue Arts MuseumTimothy Horn: Mother-Load, 2008We're all familiar with that butterflies-in-your-stomach, aching-to-go, so-happy-you-could-burst feeling right before you take a trip somewhere--and Travelers does a darn good job of recreating that very feeling. This exhibit brings nine contemporary artists together to take us on a journey through travel itself and explore the methods and objects we normally associate with it. The audience is left dreaming, hoping, expecting, and anticipating the journey, all while experiencing breathtaking and unique motifs of the thrill of adventure.Travelers: Objects of Dream and RevelationAugust 26 - October 1Bellevue Arts Museum

Review of The Sky Turns @ NW Film Forum by Sandrine G. An audience member asks, “Does it end when they all die?” The Sky Turns features the 14 remaining elderly inhabitants of an ancient Spanish village. The film moves as they move: slowly but deliberately, satisfying essential requirements while taking time to contemplate the Big Questions. It takes a subject, like the one posed by the inquisitive viewer, and twists it into metaphor. It is not a beautiful movie, but the overcast memoryscapes of the windswept Iberian countryside perfectly complement the wistful narration by graying villagers. They talk over each other like extended family at the dinner table as they discuss the desiccated old elm tree. Pictures of it in its prime dance across the screen, revealing that more people once gathered around it during a single party than the entire current population of the town. But it became diseased as time marched on and families departed the old-fashioned agrarian community. The disease and yellow lichen worked away at its bark, and its knots and cavities are easily imagined into grotesque faces by minds searching for human familiarities. Its branches cut off, it stands in solemn isolation in the courtyard of a mysterious palace. Some of the morbid secrets of the land are exposed meticulously by the archeologists who excavate the stony remains of a pre-Roman township whose history ended in mass suicide. But sometimes stones are unearthed by the inheritors of the land themselves as they till the soil and tend flocks in their ancient manner. Director Mercedes Álvarez, the last child to be born in the village before her family moved away, uses this information to fuel reflection. Death and history are thematic, every gray frame hinting at the transience of life, but the slow, thoughtful rambling of the villagers and the humorous bleating of their exotic Arab sheep are entertaining in a fitting way. They belong to a certain place and to an instant when the villagers were still young and the scars of the Spanish Civil war had not yet been romanticized by the passage of time. That moment has already begun to depart, but it will never end as long as there are movies like this and people to watch and question. The Sky Turns Through August 25 Northwest Film Forum

Young Playwright's Program @ ACT TheatreACT's Young Playwright's Program (YPP) is now being offered as an after-school program! Whether you're a seasoned writer, or the only writing you do is in your diary, this program will help you utilize your personal experiences, thoughts, and ideas and transform them into words and stories on paper. After-School YPP ends with a student showcase on December 6, with a chance for your play to be featured in ACT's 2012 Young Playwrights Festival!To get more information on how to sign up, go here.Young Playwright's ProgramFor teens ages 14 - 18September 20 - December 6ACT Theatre

Have you heard about our Teen Steering Committee? It's a group of opinionated and highly dedicated individuals who are committed to making the arts accessible for young people. Once on the committee, you get to see shows, organize and come up with marketing techniques for promoting the arts to teenagers, help set the course for the future of the Teen Tix program, and much more!Sound interesting? Fun? Exciting? It is. It's easy to sign up and this could even qualify for Service Learning Credit at your school! To learn all about this fabulous opportunity, visit this page.

Soul Nite! @ NW Film ForumJoin Northwest Film Forum for their popular soulful dance night, featuring vintage performance footage of artists such as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Otis Redding. Celebrate heart and soul, dance, groove and passion with the Film Forum!Soul Nite!August 20Northwest Film Forum

The Talent Show @ Henry Art Gallery

Footloose @ Three Dollar Bill CinemaWhen teenage Ren McCormack moves from Chicago with his family to a small Western town, he's disappointed to find out that his new home doesn't allow rock music or dancing. To make matters worse, Ren falls in love with Ariel, the daughter of the bible-thumping minister who is responsible for the repression of dance. Even though his classmates also oppose the law, only Ren has the courage to stand up to the minister so he can take Ariel to the prom.This classic tale of teenage rebellion and true heart from '84 will have you on the edge of your seat with honest and moving performances from Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, and rockin' and rollin' through popular hits like "Let's Hear it for the Boys" and, of course, "Footloose."Note: This showing is FREE!FootlooseAugust 19Three Dollar Bill Cinema

Attention Music Lovers! Bumbershoot is making a special offer just to Teen Tix members. You can order single day Bumbershoot tickets in advance, for just $25 (plus fees). That's a savings of $10 off the advance price, or $20 if you waited to buy at the gate! And they can be used any day of the weekend. Buy now and decide which day to attend later. An awesome good deal on an awesome music festival. Bumbershoot runs September 3-5 at Seattle Center. For tickets, visit The Stranger ticketing website here. Be sure to enter the password TEENTIX. Limit of 4 tickets per person. Do it now while supplies last!!

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Review of Seattle Confidential @ ACT Theatre by Chelsea D. Walking into one of ACT Theatre’s stages to see Seattle Confidential, I am almost worried I have walked into the wrong venue. Instead of the customary even rows of seats marked with neat plaques, the stage looks more like a coffee shop than a formal theatre. Small tables with people clustered around them fill the room, with the small stage in the front — suspended just a foot or so above the ground.

The Real Story of the Quileute Wolves @ Seattle Art Museum

Thank you, Twilight. Yeah, we said it. Let's face it, if not for the books and films that brought the Quileute people to life (even if mistakenly stereotypically) it's likely that the vast majority of America never would have heard of them at all. But thankfully for them and for us, Twilight inspired this exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, which cleared up a lot of, er, misconceptions... most notably that each male member of the Quileute tribe runs around shirtless at all times.

Review of In The Next Room, or the vibrator play @ ACT Theatre by Joyce R.Sex.Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about the play In the Next Room.Just the premise of the play sounds hilarious. This is a play about the creation of the first vibrator! Are you not laughing already? Are you not even a little curious as to what possible absurdities are going to occur? I know I was. With funny, smart, well-written dialogue, charming characters, and a touching story, playwright Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House– 2005 Pulitzer Finalist) will show you love, marriage, humor, loss, and sex. Yes, sex.This play is erotic enough that I wouldn’t want to take my parents, but at the same time in a sweet, innocent, romantic way, in a way that doesn’t make me squirm uncomfortably in my seat. I am also utterly won over with these quirky characters. Whether it be tactless, or awkward, or overly-analytical, the actors portray their characters wonderfully, and I fell in love with all their unique little idiosyncrasies. Especially the ever awkward Mr. Daldry (Michael Patten), jumping in at the worst times saying things like, “I like sausages.” And Dr. Givings (Jeff Cummings), talking about the weather whilst administering “treatment” on his patients’ nether-areas. And Mrs. Givings’ (Jennifer Sue Johnson) thoughtless comments on wanting to have “a few extra kids around” just in case one of them dies. And… heck, I like them all! Jeff Cummings as Dr. Givings and Jennifer Sue Johnson as Mrs. GivingsPhoto by Chris BennionThis comedy had me laughing, but also surprised me with moments of solemnity, insight on life, and endearing tenderness. The time in the theater passed by quickly. The idea so absurd, the script so clever, I was thoroughly entertained the entire 2 hours and 15 minutes that the play ran.Having only ever been to big productions at the Paramount of at 5th Avenue, I was also pleasantly surprised by the intimacy of the ACT, where the play is being shown. Additionally, the late-18th century set and costumes were gorgeous and very well suited for the play.All in all, my first gut reaction after seeing this play is that I like it immensely. All the factors, the quirky, lovable characters, the beautiful set and costumes, the witty script, and the absurdity of the premise meshed together nicely, and unless you are touchy and embarrassed at even the thought of sex, I recommend all to go see this curious little play about the invention of the first vibrator.Note: This play contains adult material and is recommended for ages 16+.In the Next Room, or the vibrator playThrough August 28thACT Theatre

Labyrinth @ Three Dollar Bill CinemaOverwhelmed with angst, 15-year-old Sarah wishes her baby brother Toby to be taken away by goblins, though hardly expects it to happen. But when Jareth, the Goblin King (played by David Bowie) shows up in her room in the form of an owl and her baby brother is missing, Sarah realizes her mistake. She is then transported on a long journey through an enormous maze-like otherworld to search for Toby: along the way meeting fantastically puppeteered fairies, dwarves, beasts and other mystical creatures. Will she rescue Toby from the Goblin King or will she be lost in the Labyrinth forever?

Woohoo! We have a whole-new website!Hey Teen-Tixers, our website has been updated. Seriously, go look at it. It's decked out with a color-coded calendar, a cool scrolling picture bar and easy-to-follow links--all at the ready for you to use!No more wasting time lookin' for stuff you want. Link to our newsletter, get more info on our participating organizations, and connect to any of our social networking sites. If you'd like to pay us a visit, go here.