英语听力文摘 English Digest 16、John Lennon's Story Comes to Broadway

　　NEW YORK, NY, August 02, 2005 — From Evita to Buddy¹ Holly² to Jackie Onassis, the lives of famous people have inspired works for the stage. Now, almost 25 years after his murder, John Lennon’s story is coming to Broadway. The new musical, “Lennon,” is scheduled to open later this month. WNYC’s Elena Park reports.
REPORTER: When John Lennon fans hear that his life is now the subject of a $7 million musical, some might be dismayed. So it might come as a surprise to learn that Lennon was planning to put his story on Broadway. His widow, Yoko Ono.
YOKO ONO: John and I, in 1978 and ’79, thought: “Why don’t we do something to make in a musical?” And we did think about that and we had a name for it and everything.
YOKO ONO: …so that’s what he wanted to do.
REPORTER: They planned to call their musical “The Ballad³ of John and Yoko.”
JESSE McKINLEY: In terms of dramatic story matter: Wow!
REPORTER: Jesse McKinley writes about theater for the New York Times.
McKINLEY: Here’s a guy born in relatively⁴ poor circumstances in Liverpool who rises to a position of kind of unparalleled international fame and, more than that-more than just being a rock star-becomes kind of a symbolic⁵ touchstone for an entire generation of people.
REPORTER: The creative team behind “Lennon” grew up with the Beatles. Allan McKeown, the lead producer, was a hairdresser who met the Beatles in the 60s. He was personally affected⁶ by their rise to fame.
ALLAN McKEOWN: I can remember when I went to Vidal Sasssoon’s, I spoke⁷ with a very strong Cockney accent because I come from the East End of London. And we were all told at the shop not to speak unless spoken to. About a month after I’d been there it became the thing to talk with a Cockney accent and all those that spoke kind of, you know, nicely were told to shut up and the rest of us were told to speak up.
REPORTER: The show’s writer and director, Don Scardino, was part of the crush of teens at JFK airport when the Beatles first arrived in the U.S. in 1964. He loved that Lennon was constantly searching for his “authentic self.”
SCARDINO: He was the acid guru, and the Mahareshi acolyte⁸, and the primal⁹ scream guy, and the Beatle, and the bloated Beatle, and the house-husband and father, and the revolutionary; he was all these people.
REPORTER: Dramatizing the life of any icon¹⁰ is difficult, so Scardino knows there will be skeptics. He faced an additional challenge because Lennon was such an Everyman.
ONO: John was a very cosmopolitan¹¹ person, international person, and his spirit was really black, red, yellow, white. He was not just a white hero and he was always tuned¹² into all different races in the world.
SCARDINO: I kept thinking about him saying, you know, “I am he as you are he and you are me and we are altogether. We’re all one, we are all one.” And I thought, well, why can’t an entire company play John Lennon?
REPORTER: This approach —for an entire multi-ethnic cast to portray¹³ Lennon — convinced Ono to grant rare approval for the project. Nine men and women perform songs like “Instant Karma,” from this rehearsal¹⁴ recording¹⁵.
The cast also speaks words from his writings and interviews, including Lennon’s comments to student protestors in 1969, urging non-violence.
“LENNON”: Violence begets¹⁶ violence. I don’t believe in anything else and I don’t believe there’s a park worth getting shot for. Avoid a confrontation¹⁷ with the blue meanies. You’d be better to move to another city, or to Canada.

1 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

2 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

3 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 acolyte   

n.助手，侍僧

参考例句：

• To his acolytes,he is known simply as "the Boss".他被手下人简称为“老板”。
• Richard Brome,an acolyte of Ben Jonson's,wrote "The Jovial Crew" in 1641.本•琼森的仆人理查德•布罗姆在1641年写了《一伙快活人》。

9 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

10 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

11 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

12 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

14 rehearsal   

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。

15 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。

16 begets   

v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起

参考例句：

• It begets at least seven standard type offspring from such matings. 这类交配中生下至少七个标准型后代。 来自辞典例句
• Violence begets violence until the innocent perish with the guilty. 暴力招致暴力直到这因罪行而无缘无故的毁灭。 来自电影对白

17 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。