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美国国家公共电台 NPR 'King Kong' On Broadway Is The 2,400-Pound Gorilla In The Room

时间:2018-11-20 03:20:00

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(单词翻译)

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

There is a new star on Broadway. He's 20 feet tall, weighs 1.2 tons, and his name is King Kong. He's a puppet, and he's the centerpiece of a $35 million musical based on the original film that opens tonight on Broadway. Reporter Jeff Lunden met with the team that brings the big gorilla1 to life.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE2: Sure, in some ways, "King Kong" resembles a typical Broadway musical. There are songs...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "QUEEN OF NEW YORK")

CHRISTIANI PITTS: (As Ann Darrow, singing) There ain’t no queens on the Midwest farm.

LUNDEN: ...And dances and dialogue. But really, what the audience wants to see is...

(SOUNDBITE OF ROARING)

LUNDEN: ...That giant ape. And he is very big. When he gets up on his legs, snorting and sniffing3 and roaring, he's two stories tall. And he feels alive. While all the people who operate Kong call him a puppet, the creature designed by Sonny Tilders is a sophisticated hybrid4, says Jacob Williams, whose job title is Kong captain.

JACOB WILLIAMS: There's a combined old-school and new-school puppetry.

LUNDEN: Let's start with the old school. Ten puppeteers5 are onstage moving the beast.

WILLIAMS: They've got ropes down there, which are connected to the wrist and the elbows so they can move it. It's basically the oldest style of puppet - a marionette6.

LUNDEN: To see that huge marionette in action and to find out how he works, I went to a technical rehearsal7 at the Broadway theater.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right, everybody, stand by. Please, stand by.

LUNDEN: Khadija Tariyan is one of the puppeteers who operate Kong's legs, arms and torso on the stage.

KHADIJA TARIYAN: To be Kong, we are one with Kong. We wear these black hoodies, and we're all in black outfits8. And we're, for the most part, quite hidden. And we're in a crouch9 position, so you don't necessarily always see us. We're almost like his shadows. And then there are also moments in the show where we are able to come out and almost express his feelings. Like, when he's curious about something, we do have a little appearance.

LUNDEN: The stylized puppet is made of steel, Styrofoam and bags of air that look like muscles when he moves - all held up by a 17-ton crane above the stage. And since Kong is really heavy, the petite Khadija Tariyan says...

TARIYAN: I do a launch off of his shoulder. The taller men can lift his hand up to a certain level; however, it takes our whole body weight to lift his 200-pound arm. So we climb up to his shoulder, and then we have different ways of grabbing onto a rope, and we launch off of it, which will then bring it higher than his head.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LUNDEN: Part of what makes Kong feel so lifelike is his facial expressions. He can be curious, sad, ferocious10, and that's where the new-school puppetry comes in. High up in the balcony, three operators and a technician sit in a booth, watching the stage through a window and infrared11 monitor. They control Kong's face, head, neck and shoulders remotely. Each of them sits behind joysticks and foot pedals.

JON HOCHE: Hi, I'm Jon Hoche. I'm the head and neck operator and also the voice of Kong.

(SOUNDBITE OF ROARING)

HOCHE: Well, Kong - he's an actor in our show, so he has lines, you know, grunts12, grumbles13, roars. They are set in the script, and my voice is modulated14 through a processor to make it kind of go from a 6'1" person to a 20-foot tall gorilla. You know, we try to keep Kong alive whenever he's on stage, so even if he's sitting, there's still a little bit of motion. So the puppet is never just inanimate onstage. There's always a breath of life in him.

(SOUNDBITE OF ROARING)

LUNDEN: Like the original movie, there are set pieces - the first time Kong comes out of the jungle, when he wrestles15 with a giant cobra, the sad ape in chains before he's put on display, the rampaging beast running through Times Square, then climbing the Empire State Building. At some point, the audience starts to forget they're watching a big puppet, says Jacob Williams, the Kong captain, who's in charge of the shoulders.

WILLIAMS: You tap into your imagination, and you place a lot of the emotion on the puppet as much as the puppeteers do. And it's this sort of connection and relationship that the puppeteers have to the puppet, then the puppet has to the audience, so it's this beautiful sort of dialogue which happens. And when it happens correctly, it makes a really special experience.

LUNDEN: At the end of every performance, the last bow is taken not by the lead actors in the show but the star - all 1.2 tons of him - and the puppeteers who bring him to life. "King Kong" opens on Broadway tonight. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gorilla 0yLyx     
n.大猩猩,暴徒,打手
参考例句:
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
  • A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。
2 byline sSXyQ     
n.署名;v.署名
参考例句:
  • His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
  • We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
3 sniffing 50b6416c50a7d3793e6172a8514a0576     
n.探查法v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的现在分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了,一个劲地抽鼻子,打喷嚏。
  • They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了,呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 hybrid pcBzu     
n.(动,植)杂种,混合物
参考例句:
  • That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
  • The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。
5 puppeteers ed0f72a9ce13f2ab9fd9dfd4cce7ff6d     
n.操纵木偶的人,操纵傀儡( puppeteer的名词复数 )
参考例句:
6 marionette sw2ye     
n.木偶
参考例句:
  • With this marionette I wish to travel through the world.我希望带着这个木偶周游世界。
  • The development of marionette had a great influence on the future development of opera.木偶戏的发展对以后的戏曲有十分重要的影响。
7 rehearsal AVaxu     
n.排练,排演;练习
参考例句:
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
  • You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。
8 outfits ed01b85fb10ede2eb7d337e0ea2d0bb3     
n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 );一套服装;集体;组织v.装备,配置设备,供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
  • Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具,因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句
9 crouch Oz4xX     
v.蹲伏,蜷缩,低头弯腰;n.蹲伏
参考例句:
  • I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
  • He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。
10 ferocious ZkNxc     
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的
参考例句:
  • The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
  • The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。
11 infrared dx0yp     
adj./n.红外线(的)
参考例句:
  • Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
  • Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。
12 grunts c00fd9006f1464bcf0f544ccda70d94b     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说; 石鲈
参考例句:
  • With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着,伸个懒腰坐了起来。
  • Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。
13 grumbles a99c97d620c517b5490044953d545cb1     
抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难,而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
  • I'm sick of your unending grumbles. 我对你的不断埋怨感到厌烦。
14 modulated b5bfb3c5c3ebc18c62afa9380ab74ba5     
已调整[制]的,被调的
参考例句:
  • He carefully modulated his voice. 他小心地压低了声音。
  • He had a plump face, lemur-like eyes, a quiet, subtle, modulated voice. 他有一张胖胖的脸,狐猴般的眼睛,以及安详、微妙和富于抑扬顿挫的嗓音。
15 wrestles bdef7c841834b3bf99a24907d02ed3eb     
v.(与某人)搏斗( wrestle的第三人称单数 );扭成一团;扭打;(与…)摔跤
参考例句:
  • The book also wrestles with the idea of individualism. 书中也与个人英雄主义的观念进行搏斗。 来自互联网
  • He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. 和我们搏斗的人锻炼了我们的勇气,磨练了我们的技能。 来自互联网

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