VOA慢速英语2020 影剧院恢复营业或面临困境(在线收听) |
Theaters Face Difficulties, As Businesses Open Up Theaters are expecting difficulties in coming back from coronavirus-related restrictions and closures. As businesses begin to open around the world, the path forward for theater is unclear. This is especially true for large-scale musicals and dramas. Live theater, with its high costs and large numbers of people, may not be the same for some time, producers and actors say. Mary McColl is the executive director of the actors' labor union Equity in the United States. Speaking with the Reuters news agency, she described the health concerns of doing live theater. "When we cry, there are tears, sometimes our noses run. Sometimes when we sing or are yelling, we spit and that lands on other actors, or it might land on the orchestra pit. And we are doing that eight times a week," she said. New York City's Broadway theaters closed in the middle of March. London's West End theaters followed a few days later. Almost no one expects them to reopen when the current closure period ends on June 7 and June 28, respectively. Jessica Koravos is president of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. "We are very tied to social distancing measures," she said. "As long as they are still in place, a mainstream return to theater and musical theater, in particular, looks pretty impossible." In April, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 27 percent of those questioned would go to a theater performance when theaters reopen. Some 51 percent said live theater should not return at all before a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is available. However, the theater world wants to get going before then. The U.S. office of Equity has asked a disease control expert to develop guidelines for actors and other people who work on plays. In addition, people are thinking about what kinds of plays would work best for taking theatrical productions out of traditional spaces. Brian Moreland is producer of the upcoming Broadway shows "American Buffalo" and "Blue." "I don't think theater will go away. I just think it will be different when it comes back," he said. Theaters may be dark, but online rehearsals are continuing. Broadway producer and investor Brisa Trinchero is hopeful. She said writers are working on new kinds of theater productions and some companies are looking to do one-person shows. "We are an industry of creative people," she said. Trinchero added that there would likely be an increase in "smaller performance pieces, cabaret" and what she called more intimate things. Musicals are likely to be the last to come back. Musicals have large casts and crews. They are also more costly. Shows with one or two actors might work for some. So might a plan to limit theaters to 50 percent capacity. But for big musicals, "it wouldn't be possible commercially to survive on those audience levels," said Koravos. Even with many issues to resolve, the theatre community is more hopeful than a month ago. It believes that the coronavirus-related restrictions have showed the value of human connection and live performances. "People are now talking about what it looks like on the other side and three to four weeks ago we weren't prepared to have this conversation," Moreland said. "So that makes me very hopeful." I'm John Russell. 影剧院恢复营业或面临困境 预计影院将很难从与冠状病毒有关的限制和停业中恢复过来。 随着世界各地的商业活动逐渐恢复,影、剧院的发展前景尚不明朗。大型音乐剧院和戏剧院更是如此。 制作人和演员们表示,成本高、观众多的现场演出可能会在一段时间内无法恢复。 玛丽·麦科尔(Mary McColl)是美国演员工会权益组织的执行董事。 在接受路透社采访时,她描述了现场演出可能会出现的健康问题。 “当演员哭的时候,会有眼泪,有时还会流鼻涕。有时当我们唱歌或大喊大叫时,唾液飞沫会落到其他演员身上,或者落在乐池。这样的情况每周可能会出现8次。”她说道。 纽约市的百老汇剧院在3月中旬关闭。数日后,伦敦西区的剧院也纷纷闭门谢客。当目前的关闭期分别于6月7日和6月28日结束时,几乎所有人都认为这些场所不会重新开放。 杰西卡·科拉沃斯(Jessica Koravos)是安德鲁·劳埃德·韦伯(Andrew Lloyd Webber)“真正好”组织的主席。 她说:“我们的未来与保持社交距离的措施息息相关。”“只要这些措施不解除,回归主流戏剧,尤其是音乐剧,看起来像是天方夜谭。” 今年4月,路透社和益普索集团的一项民意调查发现,只有27%的受访者会在影剧院重新营业时观看演出。约51%的人表示,在新型冠状病毒疫苗问世之前,现场演出根本不应该恢复。 然而,戏剧界想在那之前“复苏”。 美国演员工会办公室已经要求一位疾病控制专家为演员和其他戏剧工作者制定指导方针。 此外,人们还在思考,什么样的戏剧能将戏剧作品“完整地”带出传统空间。 布莱恩·莫兰德(Brian Moreland)是即将上演的百老汇剧目《美国水牛》(American Buffalo)和《蓝色》(Blue)的制作人。 “我认为戏剧不会就此消失。我只是觉得回归舞台的方式会有所不同。”他说道。 剧院的前景可能不明朗,但线上的排练从未停歇。 百老汇制片人兼投资人卜丽萨·曲切罗(Brisa Trinchero)对此怀揣希望。 她说,编剧们正在创作新的戏剧作品,一些公司也在考虑制作单人秀。 她说“我们是一个充满创意的行业”。 曲切罗补充说,“小型演出、卡巴莱歌舞”和她所说的更亲密的表演形式可能会增加。 音乐剧可能是最后回归舞台的。音乐剧有很多演员和工作人员。这样的演出成本也更高。 部分观众可能会接受只需要一两个演员的表演。因此,将剧院观众限制在50%的计划也有可能奏效。 科拉沃斯指出,但对于大型音乐剧来说,“在这样(半数观众)的条件下生存下去,在商业上是不可能实现的”。 尽管有许多问题需要解决,但戏剧界较一个月前更有希望。戏剧界认为,与冠状病毒相关的限制已经凸显出人际关系与现场演出的价值。 莫兰德说表示:“人们现在都在谈论现场演出会带来什么影响,而在三四周前,我们根本没准备好进行这样的对话。”“所以这让我内心充满了希望。” 约翰·罗塞尔为您播报。 |
原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/voa/2020/5/502635.html |