EC140_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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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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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!

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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

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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