美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Morning Star' Opera Sheds New Light On Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Of 1911

 

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

Today marks the anniversary of the deadliest industrial disaster in New York City history. In 1911, 146 garment workers - most of them immigrants - lost their lives in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The fire devastates¹ the family at the heart of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera, "Morning Star," which is set on Manhattan's Lower East Side. To mark the anniversary, the opera is being presented on the Lower East Side. Naomi Lewin has more.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "MORNING STAR")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Singing) I smelled something burning. I saw the red flames.

NAOMI LEWIN, BYLINE²: The Triangle Waist Company as it was called made women's shirts. It employed hundreds of people - mostly women and mostly immigrants - in a sweatshop on the top three floors of a 10-story building. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out and spread quickly because of all the fabric³ and the poor working conditions. The disaster became a touchstone for the labor⁴ movement, says Rose Imperato, vice⁵ president of Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition⁶.

ROSE IMPERATO: The fire escape was basically rusted⁷. And when workers climbed onto it, it collapsed⁸ under their weight. So many died, falling to their death. The doors were locked in part. The factory owners didn't want the workers taking home scraps⁹, and they didn't want union organizers coming in.

RICKY IAN GORDON: My mother's mother, Rebecca Lieberman, worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

LEWIN: Composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

GORDAN: On the day of the fire, she was home sick. And when her mother heard what was happening, she dragged my grandmother there, and they literally¹⁰ saw bodies - like, my grandmother's friends and people she worked with - flying out the window in flames.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "MORNING STAR")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (As character, singing) I'm going to jump, Esther.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: (As character, singing) Hold my hand, (unintelligible).

LEWIN: "Morning Star" had just premiered in Cincinnati when Eric Einhorn heard about the opera.

ERIC EINHORN: About a Jewish immigrant family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early 20th century and the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. And I was thinking this has to be in New York.

LEWIN: Einhorn is the founder¹¹ of On Site Opera, which stages site-specific productions around New York City. The first one was Shostakovich's "Tale Of The Baby Mouse" at the Bronx Zoo.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "TALE OF THE SILLY BABY MOUSE")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (As character, singing) Baby mouse, I've come to sing you - the song I bring you.

EINHORN: And from there, we went to the Cotton Club in Harlem where we did Gershwin's "Blue Monday."

LEWIN: And after that, they did Rameau's "Pygmalion" at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "PYGMALION")

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: (As character, singing).

LEWIN: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory building still stands. The fire is a pivotal moment in the opera, but it's only part of the story, so the factory building wasn't really an appropriate venue¹². Instead, Einhorn turned to the Eldridge Street Synagogue because each act of the opera is framed by the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "MORNING STAR")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (As character, singing in Hebrew).

EINHORN: This idea of creating a kind of memory play out of the opera, where the audience walks into a funeral, and they're there are to attend this memorial service complete with coffins¹³ and mourners. And out of that comes this story about this family and this community impacted by this horrible tragedy within this incredibly holy and sacred space.

LEWIN: The composer visited the 19th-century space on Eldridge Street and knew his opera had come home.

GORDAN: You walk into this synagogue, and the first thing you see is a gigantic, round, glass window that looks like one big morning star. And it seemed like a sign. I mean, when you see the synagogue and you see this window, you just think, wow, talk about bashert.

LEWIN: Yiddish for it was meant to be. Ricky Ian Gordon's "Morning Star" is being performed to mark the 107th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. For NPR News, I'm Naomi Lewin.

1 devastates   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的第三人称单数 )；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮

参考例句：

• Strip mining devastates whole regions, leaving bare and useless ground. 露天矿产毁坏全部区域，离开赤裸和无用的地面。 来自互联网
• Prostitution is a profession that devastates the lives of young women. 雏妓这个职业是对女孩子极度的摧残。 来自互联网

2 byline   

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 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

13 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白