新奇事件簿 音乐剧《猫》中的说唱音乐

The hit musical 'Cats' has had a slight makeover for its comeback performances starting in December in London. One of the traditional songs will now be a rap¹. The musical's writer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, said he felt the musical needed to be updated to appeal to a new generation of theatre-goers. Lloyd Webber based his musical on a famous book called "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by the famous British writer T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a group of cats called the Jellicles, who have to decide which cat gets to come back to life after death. 'Cats' first opened in London's West End in 1981 and on Broadway in New York in 1982. It won numerous² awards and ran for twenty-one years in the English capital.

音乐剧《猫》在经过简单装扮之后，12月份在伦敦重新登台演出。其中一首传统的歌曲现在已经变成说唱音乐。音乐剧的作家安德鲁.洛伊德.韦博，说他认为音乐剧应当与时俱进来吸引那些看音乐剧的新一代人。洛伊德.韦博将一本由英国著名作家T. S. Eliot写的一本书《猫》作为这一音乐剧的基础。这本书讲述的是一群名叫Jellicle的猫的故事。它们需要决定哪只猫能够死而复生，“猫”于1981年在伦敦西区首次登台演出，在1982年在纽约百老汇也曾演出过。这一音乐剧获得了许多奖项，并在英国首都流行了21年。

The rap will be performed by the Rum Tum Tugger³ character, who is a rebellious⁴ street cat. Lloyd Webber said the original poem that the cat sings, written in the 1930s, has a strong rap rhythm⁵. He joked that T.S. Eliot may have been the world's first rapper, saying: "I've come to the conclusion…that maybe Eliot was the inventor of rap." He added: "I think Rum Tum Tugger is going to have to become a street cat for today and he has to do hip-hop." The show's producer, Sir Trevor Nunn, explained the decision to include the rap. He said: "There is a whole generation of kids who haven't seen 'Cats' or discovered it. And there are certainly elements of the show that can be reinvigorated in very contemporary terms."

说唱音乐将会由“好奇的猫”这一角色演唱，它是一只富有叛逆精神的街猫。洛伊德.韦博说，这只猫原来所唱的诗歌，是在20世纪30年代被创作出来，并带有明显的说唱节奏。他开玩笑说，T.S. Eliot可能是世界上第一位说唱音乐家，他还说，我已经得出结论，或许Eliot是说唱音乐的创造者。他补充说道，我认为“好奇的猫”将会变成现在的街猫。这只猫需要跳街舞。音乐剧的制作人，特拉维.拿恩爵士，解释了将说唱音乐融入进来的原因。他说，当今有一代人完全没有看过《猫》或者发现过这一音乐剧。演出的一些元素可以借助非常现代的名词来复兴。

1 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

2 numerous   

adj.为数众多的；极多的

参考例句：

• There have been numerous exchanges of views between the two governments.两国政府间曾多次交换意见。
• There are numerous people in the square. 有许多人在广场上。

3 tugger   

n.拖拉器，拖拉式卷扬机

参考例句：

• Lower the drill pipe joint into the mouse hole, and remove air tugger and lifting cap. 下放单根进小鼠洞，摘掉气动绞车和提丝。 来自互联网

4 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

5 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。