美国国家公共电台 NPR--Jonathan Rockefeller brings Sesame Street to life Off-Broadway

Jonathan Rockefeller brings Sesame Street to life Off-Broadway

Transcript¹

Sesame Street The Musical is a new, Off-Broadway show staring Cookie Monster, Grover, Elmo and the rest of the muppets. The producers tailored the experience to their target audience: toddlers.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When the world brings us anxiety, little kids can rely on a "Sesame Street" song performed by the Muppet Gabrielle.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Gabrielle, singing) Put your hand on your belly², belly, if you're nervous and your legs are like jelly. Breathe in through your nose. Look - your belly grows. And out your mouth a breath goes.

INSKEEP: Maybe adults could use that too. The song "Belly Breathe" and Gabrielle are featured in a new off-Broadway show called "Sesame Street: The Musical." This show is specifically for toddlers, which means theater producers are bending some of their rules. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE³: Every kid is here to see a different star.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Cookie Monster.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: Oscar the Grouch⁴.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: Rosita.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #4: Elmo.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #5: Elmo.

BLAIR: But even the stars of "Sesame Street" had to practice before their big show.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Cookie Monster) All this talk about cookies is making me hungry. It's cookie time.

JONATHAN ROCKEFELLER: OK, can we hold, please? Hold. Just a couple of really quick notes.

BLAIR: That's "Sesame Street: The Musical's" producer and director, Jonathan Rockefeller, giving the puppeteers⁵ feedback. They can't see what's happening on stage.

ROCKEFELLER: I always describe our puppeteers as athletes.

BLAIR: They're scrunched⁶ beneath the stage, following marks on the ground.

ROCKEFELLER: Imagine going an hour with holding your arms in the air, while scooting around on your butt⁷ to make sure that the puppets are upheld in the best way possible for the audience.

BLAIR: If the puppeteers don't quite make their marks, that's OK because the premise⁸ of "Sesame Street: The Musical" is the Muppets are preparing to put on a show.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As Ernie, singing) Warm up the spotlight⁹, and tune¹⁰ up the band.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As Grover, singing) Can anyone tell me where I'm meant to stand?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As Abby Cadabby, singing) We've been practicing hard, and now it's time to share.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Feel that buzz in the air.

BLAIR: Rockefeller has made a career out of turning children's classics into musicals for 2- and 3-year-olds - "Winnie The Pooh," "Paddington Bear," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar¹¹." And he's always thinking about what kind of theater experience the very little ones will sit through. A big one? No shushing.

ROCKEFELLER: We don't have a shushing policy because they're viscerally responding to what's in front of them, and to see them excited is important. That sort of age range, to talk in the theater is totally acceptable.

BLAIR: Babbling¹² is also acceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #6: I'm - (inaudible) - Elmo.

BLAIR: Elmo.

Phyllis Sulyman and her 2-year-old daughter talked and babbled¹³ together throughout a recent preview. Rockefeller keeps his shows to about one hour. Sulyman says that's the limit.

PHYLLIS SULYMAN: The mark for these 2-year-olds is about 45 minutes to an hour. When we went to the circus, we realized the same thing.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #7: (Inaudible).

SULYMAN: So it was like, at 45, 50 minutes, she got antsy. She was ready to, you know - but she did want more bubbles.

BLAIR: Spoiler alert - there are bubbles in "Sesame Street: The Musical."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As Ernie, singing) Rub-a-dub-dubby (ph). Rubber ducky, you're so fine. And I'm lucky that you're mine. Rubber ducky, I'm awfully¹⁴ fond of you.

BLAIR: I went to the very first preview. The cast and crew had been waiting for this moment because it's only with a live audience that they know what's working and what's not.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Oh. Oh. (Imitating ring).

(LAUGHTER)

BLAIR: Afterwards, Rockefeller reflected on the moment.

ROCKEFELLER: Nothing really prepares yourself when you're going to a theater audience of seeing kids enjoy themselves because it's just unmitigated joy.

BLAIR: You almost seem emotional.

ROCKEFELLER: I am a little. It's been a long couple of weeks (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Cookie Monster) Yum, yum, yum. Cookies, mmm. And more cookies. You know what? Who care about other things?

BLAIR: With "Sesame Street: The Musical" and his other shows, Jonathan Rockefeller wants to turn kids into the next generation of theatergoers.

Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Cookie Monster, singing) C is for cookie. That's good enough for me. Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C.

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 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

3 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。

4 grouch   

n.牢骚，不满；v.抱怨

参考例句：

• He's always having a grouch about something.他总是发脾气抱怨这个抱怨那个。
• One of the biggest grouches is the new system of payment.人们抱怨最多的一点就是这种新的支付方式。

5 puppeteers   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡( puppeteer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

6 scrunched   

v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压

参考例句：

• The snow scrunched underfoot. 雪在脚下发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。
• He scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it at me. 他把那张纸揉成一个小团，朝我扔过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

8 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

9 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

10 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

11 caterpillar   

n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫

参考例句：

• A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
• A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。

12 babbling   

n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• I could hear the sound of a babbling brook. 我听得见小溪潺潺的流水声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Infamy was babbling around her in the public market-place. 在公共市场上，她周围泛滥着对她丑行的种种议论。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

13 babbled   

v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密

参考例句：

• He babbled the secret out to his friends. 他失口把秘密泄漏给朋友了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She babbled a few words to him. 她对他说了几句不知所云的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。