美国国家公共电台 NPR The Most Popular High School Plays And Musicals

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There is nothing quite like a high school musical. It's my kind of entertainment, frankly¹, but little did I know there are people out in the world who actually keep track of the most popular high school plays and musicals. Here's a couple of the headlines out of this list - joining the top 10 - "Annie;" falling off the list - "Grease," which is crazy to me. It first showed up on these rankings in 1981. This is all according to Dramatics magazine. They've been collecting the top plays and musicals since 1938. Elissa Nadworny from the NPR Ed team reports.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE²: There's just something about the high school stage. For me, it was "Fiddler On The Roof."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "FIDDLER ON THE ROOF")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) For such a match, I prayed. Mazel tov, mazel tov.

NADWORNY: I was stage crew, dressed in black, and I rushed the bed onstage for Tevye's dream sequence. In the early 2000s, "Fiddler" was a big hit with high schools. So what's popular now? On the musical side, "Beauty And The Beast" took the top spot.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Bon jour, bon jour, bon jour, bon jour, bon jour.

NADWORNY: Those are students from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. This spring, they joined schools all across the country, from Puyallup, Wash., to Fort Dodge³, Iowa, to Billings, Mont., performing the show. Coul Hill is the theater teacher behind Skyview High School's production in Billings.

COUL HILL: I like special effects, and I like having people fly and swing and fall and all of that.

NADWORNY: But, he says, theater in Montana can be a hard sell, so he picked a show he knew kids would love.

HILL: If they haven't already watched the Disney version of it a hundred times, they don't care, right? So it's got to be stuff that they're already familiar with.

NADWORNY: "Beauty And The Beast" fit that bill, and it was a huge success. They're not alone with that reasoning. Belle⁴ and her friends have been hanging around the top-10 list for the last two decades. Shifting from musicals to plays, "Almost, Maine," a collection of two-person scenes by John Cariani, was No. 1, and it has been for seven of the last nine years.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "ALMOST, MAINE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Marvalyn) What is it like...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Steve) What?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Marvalyn) To not feel pain?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Steve) I don't know. I don't really know what it's like to hurt.

NADWORNY: Those are students from Carl Junction⁵ High School in Missouri. Many of the plays and musicals are classics. And there's "Our Town." The play ranked No. 5 this past school year. It's been one of the top plays every decade since the 1940s. One factor here - it's pretty cheap to put on.

GREGORY BOSSLER: You can do it with at least a ladder, and I think that's the minimum you need.

NADWORNY: That's Gregory Bossler, editor in chief of Dramatics magazine. He oversees⁶ the theater rankings and was a high school actor back in the day.

BOSSLER: And my senior year, I was even the lead in the spring musical. I was Captain von Trapp in "The Sound Of Music."

NADWORNY: Bossler says shows with a lot of roles and big ensembles⁷ like "Our Town" work well. "Beauty And The Beast" has lots of villagers, plus Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Gaston and Little Chip.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Be our guest, be our guest.

NADWORNY: About 4,000 schools filled out this annual survey from Dramatics magazine. The survey asked how many people came to see the shows, and with some math, they estimate about 46 million people are seeing theater at high schools every year. That's about four times the number of folks that see a show on Broadway. One of the appeals of student theater, Bossler says, is seeing teens grapple with emotions and relevant issues. Take "The Little Mermaid⁸."

BOSSLER: She wants to be part of your world. It's someone dealing⁹ with feeling like an outsider, and I don't know what high schooler has never felt that emotion.

NADWORNY: As the curtain falls, let's let Cody Putz at Half Moon Bay High School in California close us out.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE LITTLE MERMAID")

CODY PUTZ: (As Ariel, singing) I want to be where the people are.

NADWORNY: Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE LITTLE MERMAID")

PUTZ: (As Ariel, singing) ...Want to see them dancing.

1 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

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 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

4 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

5 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

6 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

7 ensembles   

整体( ensemble的名词复数 )； 合奏； 乐团； 全套服装（尤指女装）

参考例句：

• I love to play in all types of ensembles. 我喜欢参与吹奏各种各样的合奏曲。
• The 5th Brigade is now taking 895 Land Warrior ensembles to Afghanistan. 第五旅现在携带895套陆地勇士装备去阿富汗。

8 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。