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ESL Podcast English Café 140
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 140
TOPICS
New York Theater District/Broadway shows; Barbie dolls/G.I. Joe, I don’t have
versus I have no, in the street versus on the street, identifying yourself on the
phone
_____________
GLOSSARY
district
–
area or part of a city; section of a town or city
* Cesar lives downtown, near the financial district where he works.
mainstream –
appealing to the general public; liked or recognized by most
people
* My favorite actress seldom acts in mainstream Hollywood movies.
controversial
–
something that creates a lot of disagreement; a topic about
which people have strong and differing opinions
* The talk show this past weekend had two guests who talked about controversial
political topics.
cutting-edge –
new, modern, and exciting; something that has not been done
before and that is considered new and interesting
* Mina’s new cell phone has cutting-edge technology not found in the average
cell phone.
lucrative –
profitable; making a lot of money
* Jim was offered a job he liked, but it’s not very lucrative and he’s worried he
won’t be able to pay his school loans if he accepts it.
figurine
–
small doll of people, animals, and things; small toy of people or things
that children play with
* For many years, my mother collected figurines of sleeping dogs that are now
worth a lot of money.
infant –
young baby; at an early stage of development
* The classes offered at the community center are for older children, not infants.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 140
voluptuous –
having
womanly curves with big breasts and hips, and a small
waist
* The models at the party were all voluptuous and sexy.
to distort –
to
change the way that something is seen, or the way that something
appears; to make something appear different from what it really is or looks like in
real life
* Are you losing weight or is that mirror distorting the way your body looks?
accessory –
something designed to be sold and used with something else;
something that can be added to something else to make it appear or work better
* Bettie bought a dress for the party, but she still needs to buy the accessories,
including a purse and a necklace.
action figure –
small doll of soldiers, sports heroes, or characters with
superpowers, like Superman and Spider-Man
* Let’s take all of our action figures outside and have a big battle!
armed force –
the parts the
U.S. military, including the Army, Navy, Air Force,
and Marines
* Which branch of the armed forces will Cassandra be serving in after she
finishes high school?
I have no –
I don’t have; I am without
* You may have told your parents we’re going to dinner with them, but I have no
intention of going!
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 140
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Broadway Musicals Made into Movies
Movies take “inspiration” (source of ideas) from many places. One of those
places is Broadway. A number of very successful Broadway shows have been
“turned into” (changed into; adapted into) equally successful movies. Three
recent examples have even won Academy awards, the most “prestigious” or
highly respected award for movies.
The movie,
Chicago
, won six Academy awards, including Best Picture (best film)
of the year. The movie, released in 2002, is based on the 1975 Broadway
musical production, which “ran for” (continued for) 936 performances. It tells the
story of a woman who kills and the “celebrity” (being famous) and justice she
receives.
Dreamgirls
is another Broadway show, which had a lot of success as a movie.
The movie was released in 2006 and it won three Academy awards. The
Broadway musical upon which the movie was based opened in 1981. As a
Broadway musical, it also won many prizes, including six Tony Awards, which
are the awards given each year to the best Broadway shows. The story of
Dreamgirls
takes place in the 1960s and 1970s, and is about a group of African
American female singers who try to become famous and successful.
Finally,
Phantom of the Opera
, was a very successful Broadway play for many
years before it was turned into a film. A “phantom” is a ghost, a spirit of someone
who has died, and the “opera” is the theater where trained classical singers
perform. This musical and film tells the story of a phantom who lives in the opera
house. He takes a young girl “under his wing” (to teach or protect) to train her to
be a great opera singer.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 140
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 140.
This is ESL Podcast’s English Café number 140. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff
McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development, in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
You can visit our website at eslpod.com. Download this episode’s Learning
Guide, an 8 to 10 page guide we provide for all of our current episodes that gives
you some additional help in improving your English. You can also take a look at
our ESL Podcast Store, with additional courses in business and daily English.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about the New York Theater District and the
shows on Broadway. We’ll talk about what people mean when they say
Broadway or a show on Broadway. We’ll also talk about a very popular
American set of toys, and those would be the Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe. We’ll
talk a little bit about their history and their popularity in the U.S. And as always,
we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.
We’re going to begin our Café on Broadway, in New York City. It is part of the
New York City Theater District. A “district” is an area, or a part of a city. For
example, in Los Angeles and in New York and in San Francisco, there is a
Chinatown. It’s a district or area where there are many Chinese American
people living. New York City has a very famous theater district; it’s sometimes
called Theater Row (row). A “row” is a line of things, one next to the other. The
Theater District, or Theater Row, is located on the island of Manhattan, which is,
sort of, downtown New York City. It’s located in the middle, what we call
“midtown” Manhattan.
If you ever go to New York City – to midtown Manhattan – you can walk around
the Theater District. It doesn’t just have theaters; it has movie theaters and
hotels and many restaurants. The Theater District is 11 blocks long by three
blocks wide. A “block” is the distance from one street to another, so there are 11
streets going north to south in the Theater District, and three streets going east to
west. One of the streets that runs through the Theater District is called
Broadway, so there is an actual Broadway street. The part of Broadway that
passes through the Theater District is sometimes called “The Great White Way.”
If you ever go to New York and walk down Broadway at night, you’ll understand
why it’s called “The Great White Way,” there are some many lights on the
theaters that shine very brightly.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 140
The Theater District has 39 large, professional theaters that each have more
than 500 seats for theatergoers, or people who go to watch theatrical
performances. If a play or show is at one of these 39 large theaters, we say that
they are “on-Broadway.” “On-Broadway” refers to theater plays and shows that
are in one of these main theaters in the Broadway district. Sometimes, it’s called
simply the “Broadway Theater.” Many people think that the very best shows –
the very best plays in the United States are on Broadway, that it represents the
best English-language theater in the United States, and perhaps the world,
although those in London would probably disagree. So, when people talk about
a Broadway musical or a show that is on-Broadway, they’re talking about
performances that take place in this theater district with the large theaters.
There are other theaters in the Theater District besides these 39 main theaters.
Performances that are held in the Theater District in places that have less than
500 seats, usually between 100 and 499 seats are called “off-Broadway” shows.
When I went to New York a few years ago we – my wife and I – went to an off-
Broadway comedy play. It wasn’t very funny, unfortunately! When people talk
about “off-Broadway,” then, they mean that it’s still in the Theater District, but it’s
not one of the larger theaters. Theaters in New York City that have less than 100
seats are sometimes called “off-off-Broadway shows” and that could be any
place in the New York City area – it doesn’t matter whether they are in the
Theater District or not.
On-Broadway shows are usually “mainstream,” which means that they appeal, or
are popular, with the larger, general public – most people. On-Broadway shows
are usually not controversial. Something is “controversial” if it creates a lot of
disagreement and people have strong, differing opinions about the topic.
Mainstream shows try to be popular with everyone, and on-Broadway shows are
usually, therefore, not controversial. Most on-Broadway shows don’t have topics
that offend anyone. “To offend” means to say something that would hurt another
person’s feelings.
Plays and shows that are in the smaller theaters – the off-Broadway theaters –
usually are more controversial; we might say they’re more “cutting-edge.” The
phrase “cutting-edge” (edge) means that it is new, it is exciting, it is modern.
Something is cutting-edge if it hasn’t been done before. Many people talk about
cutting-edge technology, for example. Cutting-edge theater is theater that looks
at new topics that some people may not be comfortable with. So, if you want to
see a cutting-edge play in New York, you really need to go to the off-Broadway
theaters. On-Broadway shows will be much more mainstream. If you want to
5
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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