美国国家公共电台 NPR--'Into the Woods' returns to Broadway

'Into the Woods' returns to Broadway

Transcript¹

Many fans of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Into the Woods, a mash² up of Grimm's Fairy Tales that is both funny and serious, just got their wish. A production of the show, starring Sara Bareilles, that had a limited run at New York's City Center in the spring, has moved to Broadway, where it's received rave³ reviews and is playing to sold out houses. For those familiar with the original, it's a different kind of production.

Fresh off their Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and librettist⁵ James Lapine wanted to write a new show together and landed on the idea of taking various fairy tales – Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood⁶, Jack⁷ and the Beanstalk, among them – and mixing them all together, with their own story of a childless baker⁸ and his wife.

"The show opens with the words 'I wish' and closes with the words 'I wish,' " explained Sondheim in a video he recorded for Music Theatre International, the company that licenses⁹ productions of the show. "And this isn't just because they're fairy tale languages, but in fact, what the show is about is a group of people who have various wishes, and during the course of the show, they get their wishes. But, in so doing, upset the natural order of things and have to pay for it in the second act; become a community, submerge their individual wishes into a community wish and thereby¹⁰ save the world, so to speak."

The show is probably Sondheim's most popular musical – it ran for two years originally, was taped for PBS, has been revived on Broadway, is performed in professional and community theaters and schools around the world. In 2014 it was turned into a Disney film, starring Meryl Streep.

"Part of what is glorious about it is you can come to it at many different stages in your life and enjoy it," says Lear deBessonet, who has directed this revival¹¹. "And also notice different things about it based on where you are."

She says she listened to the cast album as a kid growing up in Baton¹² Rouge¹³, La. "This cast album I credit with my obsession¹⁴ with lyrics¹⁵," explains deBessonet. "This was the cast album that taught me what lyrics can do. And the fact that a lyric⁴ has the power to hold, not just one or two meanings, but four or five meanings. And so, I've loved this show deeply for a very long time."

DeBessonet says in the darkest days of the pandemic, she found herself thinking about one particular lyric, from the song "No More," after she put her three-year-old son to bed. She quotes it: "How do you ignore all the wolves, all the lies, the false hopes, the goodbyes, the reverses, all the wondering what even worse is still in store..." She says "the precision of the emotional and spiritual insight of that question" led her to approach Sondheim and Lapine with another question: "And basically, I said, 'Whenever theater is back, whether we come back in six months or in five years, the first thing I want to do when we're back in a theater is direct Into the Woods.' And they said 'Yes.' "

Sondheim was involved in some of the preliminary casting but passed away five months before the show was staged, says music director Rob Berman. "It really feels like we're doing an American classic," he says. "And to do it so soon after Steve passed away, it feels so meaningful."

It began as part of the Encores! series at City Center, which puts on semi-staged concert versions of musicals. The orchestra is onstage and there are very few scenic¹⁶ elements – something director deBessonet has retained for Broadway. "In a sense, the gift of stripping away fancy stage mechanics and making it just about these words, these people and their communion with the audience," she explains, "that's the center of our production. And I think it's part of what people have loved about it."

Pop star Sara Bareilles, who penned the hit musical Waitress and stars in Girls5Eva on Peacock, says she feels the love coming from the audience. "It's like a rock concert every night," she says. "We really get the sense that we're giving these audiences something they really, really want and they really need right now."

Joshua Henry, who plays Rapunzel's prince and has starred on Broadway in Carousel¹⁷ and Hamilton, says some members of the audience know every lyric and every line. But, more important, they relate to the characters. "I think a show like this that has so many complex characters that talk about the human experience," he says. "I mean, I don't feel like there's one emotion or one experience that humans ... experience that is not in this show."

In the second act of the show, the characters face the existential threat of a giant, who creates chaos¹⁸ in the kingdom and several main characters die. In 1987, it was a metaphor¹⁹ for AIDs, the 2002 revival opened shortly after Sept. 11, and now this revival comes after more than a million Americans have died of COVID. Music director Berman says part of what makes the show continue to work is how – like fairy tales, with their archetypal characters, it's all about interpretation²⁰. "In the show, the giant is just the giant," says Berman. But "as an audience and as humans, we just we take it to these other places that make it meaningful. And we connect to it the things that are going on in real life."

Henry says, even though Sondheim isn't around, his spirit is. And his collaborator²¹, Lapine, wrote the cast a letter for opening night. "And put it backstage and said that this version of the production specifically is one that Steve would be immensely, immensely proud of," Henry says. "So, hearing him say that was like woof, you know, really hits you."

And for those who can't catch the limited run of Into the Woods on Broadway, a new cast recording²² was made this week and will be available to stream in September. Wishes do come true.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

3 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

4 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

5 librettist   

n.(歌剧、音乐剧等的)歌词作者

参考例句：

• The musician and the librettist were collaborators. 音乐家与剧作者通力合作。
• Italian-born American composer and librettist whose operas include The Medium(1946) and The Consul(1950). 梅诺蒂，吉安卡洛生于1911意大利裔美国作曲家和歌剧词作者，其歌剧作品包括女巫（1946年）及领事（1950年）

6 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

9 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

10 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

11 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

12 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

13 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

14 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

15 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

16 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

17 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

19 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

20 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

21 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

22 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。