TeenTix Blog

Every once in a while here at Teen Tix HQ we do stop facebooking long enough to crunch some numbers and see how well we're fulfilling the ol' mission. Today's numbers are full of good news for us, for Seattle's young arts-lovers, and for the long-term health of our cultural community. So we thought we'd share. We're also throwing in some quotes from our fantastic members. Because quotes are nice."I took some friends with me to different shows: plays, concerts, etc. and if it wasn't for the Teen Tix, they would not have seen them. These are friends who had never gone to a theatre or been to a show outside of what they had seen in school."In our most recent member survey (Sept. 2009) 70% of Teen Tix members said that they now attend the arts more frequently (37.5%) or a lot more frequently (32.7%) than they did before joining Teen Tix.Teen Tix tickets sold in April, 2004 (our first month): 4Teen Tix tickets sold in April, 2009: 441"My grandmother really enjoys going to the theater. She has taken me to musicals for years. Now, I can take her with me with my Teen Tix. Thanks."By the end of 2009, Teen Tix will have facilitated the sale of over 12,500 teen tickets to the arts over our five year history.The Teen Tix weekly e-newsletter reaches over 16,000 teens, parents, and adults who work with youth. In 2008, Teen Tix members used their passes 3,874 times. That's a 24% response rate, over 10 times the industry average for e-marketing![David Daniels, Jupiter Research, 2006, Forrester Research, 2007]

The Teen Tix experience at ACT Theatre

"For me, the arts made me a much more open-minded person"In April of 2004 (our first month), 11 teenagers signed up for Teen Tix. In September of 2009, that number was 542.97% of our new registrations are online and word-of-mouth driven.

"I love Teen Tix and how it connects teens to the arts, and how it invokes their cooperation on so many levels."

Our family of participating organizations has grown to include thirty-three of our region's best arts producers (they're all listed over there on the right). That's fourteen theatres, four museums, two dance companies, one opera company, three cinemas, one symphony, one international performing arts festival, one arts and lectures series, one laser dome (guess which one), and five multi-disciplinary arts centers. Whew!

"Since I got my Teen Tix registration, I have seen more art than I ever have in my life, and have truly realized how great it is. And I have cajoled my friends into getting their passes, and dragged them all over town; to the ballet, Intiman, SAM, you name it. And we have had a wonderful time. And we agree on two things: we love art, and we love Teen Tix. Simply put: Teen Tix has helped expose me to art I would not have seen without it, and has expanded my mind and enriched me as a person. ZOMG. Teen Tix rules."

Teen Tix is Seattle's amazing arts access program for teenagers. Any teenager (13-19 years old) can sign up for a FREE Teen Tix pass. Show that pass at any of our 33 participating arts organizations to get $5.00 day-of-show admission (or $5.00 anytime admission at our museum partners). That's it! There's no catch. Teen Tix exists to help teenagers take advantage of Seattle's rich cultural life. It's for you. You can sign up for your free Teen Tix pass here. Get the details on how to use your Teen Tix pass here.Consult our frequently asked questions page here.

"unusable passport photo" Archie Pelago by on flickr(search results is an art project. Everyday we search for and post a random flickr photo using the search term "passport".)The Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is still on!Here's how it works: - Download the passport - Take it with you and ask for a stamp at the box office every time you use your Teen Tix pass - Once you have 6 stamps, return your passport to us to be entered to win fabulous prizes like a $200 gift card to a retailer of your choosing (choose from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, GAP, iTunes, Pagliacci, Starbucks, Target, or a pre-paid Visa card). The contest runs through December 29th, 2009, so you still have plenty of time to see art and win! Download your passport and all of the contest details here.

ONE NIGHT ONLY: The Laramie Project: 10 Years LaterWhatever you were going to do tonight, skip it and do this instead. On October 6th, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was tortured and beaten near Laramie, Wyoming by Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, who testified that they targeted Shepard because he was gay. He died of severe brain injuries six days later, on October 12th, 1998.A New York-based theatre company, The Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interiews with the town's residents. They made a play out of the interviews, and then HBO made a movie out of the play.The trailer from the HBO film. (Note: contains derogatory language)Tonight the Seattle Rep along with 100 theatres around the world will present a staged reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, an epilogue to the original, groundbreaking play. Our local reading features some of Seattle's best actors (Marianne Owen, Suzanne Bouchard, Sarah Rudinoff, Gretchen Krich, and Troy Fischnaller) and is directed by Jerry Manning, Producing Artistic Director of Seattle Rep.The reading is free and open to anyone, but expected to fill up quickly. Doors open at 6:30. Live-blogging and tweeting are encouraged, as long as you sit in the balcony. The show is recommended for people ages 14 and up for mature themes.The Laramie Project: 10 Years LaterFREE staged readingTonight, Monday October 12th @ Seattle RepDoors at 6:30Laramie Project Online Community

this is the most charming thing I have ever read

Dial M for Murder at SIFF Cinema Ray Milland puts together an elaborate plan to kill his beautiful, unfaithful wife—Grace Kelly—for her money, but when his plan goes awry (Kelly kills the hired assailant!) Milland turns to a diabolical Plan B—scheming to have Kelly indicted for murder!Part of this weekend's "Hitchcock: Master of Suspense" series at SIFF Cinema--double features today and tomorrow!Dial M for MurderSunday, October 11th7:00 PMSIFF Cinema

"Passport photo (1987)" by Mike Knell on flickr(search results is an art project. Everyday we search for and post a random flickr photo using the search term "passport".)The Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is still on!Here's how it works: - Download the passport - Take it with you and ask for a stamp at the box office every time you use your Teen Tix pass - Once you have 6 stamps, return your passport to us to be entered to win fabulous prizes like a $200 gift card to a retailer of your choosing (choose from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, GAP, iTunes, Pagliacci, Starbucks, Target, or a pre-paid Visa card). The contest runs through December 29th, 2009, so you still have plenty of time to see art and win! Download your passport and all of the contest details here.

"Passport photos" by Cupps on flickr(search results is an art project. Everyday we search for and post a random flickr photo using the search term "passport".)The Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is still on!Here's how it works: - Download the passport - Take it with you and ask for a stamp at the box office every time you use your Teen Tix pass - Once you have 6 stamps, return your passport to us to be entered to win fabulous prizes like a $200 gift card to a retailer of your choosing (choose from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, GAP, iTunes, Pagliacci, Starbucks, Target, or a pre-paid Visa card). The contest runs through December 29th, 2009, so you still have plenty of time to see art and win! Download your passport and all of the contest details here.

If this stop-motion animated opening title sequence for Handmade Nation makes your heart go pitter-patter, then I know what you're doing tonight.Handmade NationNorthwest Film ForumOctober 10 & 11more info

Review of Annie Proulx at Seattle Arts & Lectures by Tucker Cholvin This Wednesday, Seattle Arts and Lectures hosted Annie Proulx, author of Postcards, The Shipping News, Wyoming Stories, as well as the short story Brokeback Mountain (later adapted into the Oscar-winning film) at Benaroya Hall. Proulx read from her new book, entitled Bird Cloud: A Memoir in Progress, giving a condensed but powerful taste of her style as a writer. Audience members were also given the chance to submit questions afterward for a question and answer session. Annie Proulx | photo by John Harding/Time & Life Pictures--Getty Images

Proulx, in her writing and her life, is deeply tied to Wyoming, her adopted home, and its land. She began with the setting of her house along a great cliff named Bird Cloud, describing the plate tectonics and slow forces that formed it, and that will reshape it again in the future. She progressed to describing the indigenous peoples who settled the area first, and then remembered the land as it was when she came to it. As visceral and raw as the wild land she loves, she delights in setting the scene with the small details. Her style reveals not only her great love of the land but also surrounds one in its untamed world. This wild landscape, created so attentively at the start, becomes the foundation for all other things—a fatal car accident on a state highway, an exchange with an overeager shopkeeper in her old hometown, or a fly-fishing expedition are all set against this vibrant backdrop. No matter the subject, Proulx infuses a physicality into her stories that throws one into the moment and makes her stories come alive. The euphoria of her joy is tangible and real; its swift and merciless destruction bites just as coldly as if it had been us. In their extremities, they mirror the blossoming summers and brutal winters of Proulx's Wyoming, where nothing can truly last. Wielding all the power and force of nature and the earth, her writing becomes a living, breathing creature, strong and potent. This mere taste of her book pulled me in, leaving me hungry for more and in awe of a great writer. -Tucker C. October 7, 2009 Annie Proulx was a one-night event Next up in Seattle Arts & Lectures Literary Series: Lydia Davis Wednesday, November 4th @ 7:30 Benaroya Hall more info

canadian passport by striatic on flickr(search results is an art project. Everyday we search for and post a random flickr photo using the search term "passport".)The Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is still on!Here's how it works: - Download the passport - Take it with you and ask for a stamp at the box office every time you use your Teen Tix pass - Once you have 6 stamps, return your passport to us to be entered to win fabulous prizes like a $200 gift card to a retailer of your choosing (choose from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, GAP, iTunes, Pagliacci, Starbucks, Target, or a pre-paid Visa card). The contest runs through December 29th, 2009, so you still have plenty of time to see art and win! Download your passport and all of the contest details here.

Jeremy at The Sunbreak says "Don't be fooled by the fact that it's playing at Seattle Children's Theatre : If there's one can't-miss theatre performance this weekend, it's Yaser Khaseb's Mysterious Gifts: Theatre of Iran."SCT says "It is a rare opportunity for us in the Pacific Northwest to see an authentic piece of theatre art from Iran. Performance artist Yaser Khaseb has crafted a show devised of several movement-based pieces, making the language barrier inconsequential, that give us entry into his world."Our video of the day is from Mysterious Gifts dress rehearsal:

We know that so many of you are HUGE dance lovers, and so it makes us oh so happy to announce that Seattle largest contemporary dance company, Spectrum Dance Theater, is our newest Teen Tix participating organization. From their website: "Spectrum Dance Theater (SDT) was founded in 1982 to bring dance of the highest merit to a diverse audience composed of people from different social, cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds" and (we love this part) "We believe that exposure to and participation in the performing arts can be a transforming experience for individuals and communities." So you can see why we like them so much. There's very little that we could say further that isn't better expressed by this absolutely stunningly beautiful video narrated by Spectrum's Artistic Director, Donald Byrd. Watch it, and when you get to the end and are left wanting more, go see Spectrum's Studio Series starting this weekend at their Madrona studio. Spectrum Dance Theatre800 Lake Washington Blvd.Seattle, WA 98122directions206.325.4161Byrd Retrospective Festival Studio SeriesOctober 10th - 25thmore info

untitled by sa_ku_ra on flickr(search results is an art project. Everyday we search for and post a random flickr photo using the search term "passport".)The Teen Tix Passport to the Arts contest is still on!Here's how it works: - Download the passport - Take it with you and ask for a stamp at the box office every time you use your Teen Tix pass - Once you have 6 stamps, return your passport to us to be entered to win fabulous prizes like a $200 gift card to a retailer of your choosing (choose from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, GAP, iTunes, Pagliacci, Starbucks, Target, or a pre-paid Visa card). The contest runs through December 29th, 2009, so you still have plenty of time to see art and win! Download your passport and all of the contest details here.

Abe Lincoln gets his beard on:Abe Lincoln in IllinoisINTIMAN TheatreThrough November 15th

LEAH!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! This is why you are my favorite person to work with at the pool!

HOW CUTE IS LEAH? SO CUTE.

SAM's new director, Derrick Cartwright, says:"Even the name 'SOAP' should be considered as something provisional. SOAP was picked from many clever, and maybe some less clever, names (my personal favorite was 'SAMbiguous') which I think merits a blog entry in its own right. That could come soon. For now, I am curious to hear any responses to it, since we are open to improvements as we go."So...what do you think of "SOAP", Teen Tixers? Read SOAP here

For part five in our series, Young Critics Workshop grad Leah Menzer supplies hyperbolic ad copy for YCW. And it's all true. Leah, take it away!I see you, Seattle high-schooler, wearing that flannel shirt, a pair of wayfarers, and listening to KEXP podcasts. If you really want keys to the hipster castle, look no further than the Young Critics Workshop. Nothing is cooler than Seattle’s outrageously large art scene, and nothing will get you more involved with it than YCW. I bleed obscure art references now, (an oddly useful college skill) and I’d say most of it stems from this class. Also if you tell your parents you are going to see a play they will probably start crying with joy, and maybe not be so angry when you get a C on that chem test or whatever.Honestly, the only relevant things I still have on my resume from high school are this class and a fictional company I was CEO of. Don’t waste your time thinking that being Co-Secretary of Japanese club is really going to help you later in life, I promise you it will not. INSTEAD why not find out about mysterious avant-garde warehouse plays and underground art tours while improving your writing with a REAL LIVE (charming) newspaper editor from the best paper in town?I cannot stress enough how much I looked forward to every class. In my fake-wood college desk drawer I still have some handouts from the class I look at if I need inspiration.- I’m a sophomore at American University in Washington DC, waffling between sticking with a Political Science major or switching into something radio-related I would actually love that probably won’t get me a job.The Young Critics Workshop is a 5-month-long critical writing seminar for 11th & 12th graders and college freshmen who are interested in learning about arts criticism and journalism. It's taught by Brendan Kiley, Arts Editor at the Stranger. Applications for this year's workshop are due October 15th. Download more info here. Download the application here. Email questions to teentix@seattle.gov

TONIGHT: Author Annie Proulx is speaking at Benaroya Hall. Proulx is the author of some very good books and short stories you might not have heard of (Postcards, Accordion Crimes, Bad Dirt) and a couple of you probably have heard of (The Shipping News, Brokeback Mountain) because they've been made into movies (and we know how you kids love the talkies). Books blogger John Detrixhe says that Proulx is a reluctant interview subject:"It's this reluctance that makes her words so gratifying. There's a certain guilty thrill in listening to Proulx speak, when one knows that she would rather be in Wyoming, where she lives, or Newfoundland, where she owns a home. And she would probably be happiest if she were in either of those places writing, instead of giving a lecture in Chicago or responding to the media. Still, one senses that Proulx rarely does what she doesn't care to do, and when she answers a question it is only because she is willing, and not because she necessarily cares how you will react to her answer."Sounds like someone I'd like to hear speak. You? Okay, let's go.Annie ProulxTonight, Wednesday, October 7th7:30 PMBenaroya Hallmore infoThis event is produced by Seattle Arts & Lectures, a Teen Tix Participating Organization. Teen Tix members can get $5.00 tickets at the door. The box office opens at 6:00 PM.