美国国家公共电台 NPR Hurricane Harvey Flooded Houston's Theater District, But It Won't Stop The Shows

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Hurricane Harvey was hard on Houston's art and culture community. Four days of torrential rain nearly drowned the city's opera, ballet and theater companies - along with their revered¹ mural. As NPR's John Burnett reports, they're drying out and starting over.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE²: On August 28, as engorged Buffalo³ Bayou crept into Houston's theater district, Perryn Leech⁴ and Dean Gladden pulled on slickers and rubber boots and headed downtown for a look. Leech is the managing director of the Houston Grand Opera, and Gladden heads the Alley⁵ Theatre next door. Their worst fears were confirmed. There were dead fish in the street. A foul⁶ brew⁷ of bayou water and sewage had surged into the theater district - for the first time ever - and gushed⁸ into their elegant performance buildings.

PERRYN LEECH: This room was an unholy mess. So we do know that the water was coming in with some force.

BURNETT: In the Wortham Theater, home of the opera, Perryn Leech shows where floodwaters destroyed dressing⁹ rooms, storage areas and mechanical and electrical installations. He heads down a corridor that's being dried out by electric blowers.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLOWERS RUNNING)

BURNETT: We step into a series of large rooms that have been stripped down to cinder¹⁰ block walls. In here, they lost costumes from the production of "Julius Caesar" as well as thousands of shoes from thigh-high boots to brocaded slippers¹¹. Then, there were the wigs¹³.

LEECH: This will give you an idea of some of the devastation¹⁴. So this is our wig¹² shop.

BURNETT: How many wigs did you lose?

LEECH: Five to 600 wigs, all made from human hair, each individually knotted. So - I mean huge cash value. A wig can range anywhere between $1,500 to $2,500, $3,000.

BURNETT: Wigs are a big part of opera.

LEECH: Absolutely, yeah.

BURNETT: Rebuilding the Wortham may cost as much as $60 million. Losses incurred¹⁵ by all six performing companies based in the theater district add up to another 60 million. The Alley Theatre, a nationally renowned¹⁶ resident theater, suffered a similar fate.

DEAN GLADDEN: The water was 10 feet high, so roughly about up to where this drywall is right here.

BURNETT: Managing director Dean Gladden leads the way through the Alley's flooded-out catacombs. Down here are the rooms that housed the theater's irreplaceable prop¹⁷ collection - antique chandeliers, trunks, suitcases, telephones, period magazines.

GLADDEN: We have everything that you would have in your house. This is 70 years of collecting props¹⁸. So all of our prop storage was underwater, a hundred percent.

BURNETT: In the performance world, the paramount¹⁹ ethos is the show must go on - and so it did. While renovation²⁰ of the Alley's flooded-out subterranean²¹ theater goes on, it is staging "A Christmas Carol" in its above ground theater that was not damaged.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "A CHRISTMAS CAROL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Ghost of Christmas Present) I am the Ghost of Christmas Present.

BURNETT: The Houston Ballet, which also uses the Wortham, has moved its production of "The Nutcracker" to alternate venues²² around the city. The Houston Grand Opera never considered canceling its season either, from "La Traviata" to "West Side Story." It needed a new performance space, too, so the opera company constructed a free-standing theater inside the cavernous George R. Brown Convention Center and named it Resilience Theater - not the greatest acoustic²³ space but adequate for the recent premiere of a Christmas-themed opera.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "THE HOUSE WITHOUT A CHRISTMAS TREE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character, singing) A house without a Christmas tree is a crime against the holidays.

BURNETT: Managing director Perryn Leech had experience constructing a theater in a sports stadium in his native U.K., so he knew he could do it here.

LEECH: When we first looked at the convention center, it was clear to me, who'd done something similar before, that we could do the show. And most of my colleagues were like, no [expletive] way. And I was like - oh, yeah. We can definitely do it.

BURNETT: The Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs has identified 71 arts groups in all that were impacted by Harvey. They range from the Wortham and the Alley to the Blue Triangle Community Center. This building, once a segregated²⁴ YWCA, is home to a historic mural that's important to Houston's black community.

(SOUNDBITE OF ZIPPER²⁵ OPENING)

BURNETT: Stepping through a zipper opening - to control humidity - reveals a large painting in a style reminiscent of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. It depicts²⁶ abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Sojourner²⁷ Truth and poet Phillis Wheatley among other figures in African-American history. Charlotte Bryant is director of Blue Triangle.

CHARLOTTE BRYANT: It's perfect for me to teach because I can tell students about the Underground Railroad.

BURNETT: The artist is John T. Biggers, a noted²⁸ African-American muralist and educator. The building already had a leaky roof. Harvey's 4 feet of rain penetrated²⁹ the walls and drenched³⁰ the painting.

BRYANT: If you look carefully, you see little black spots. That's where the mold was on it.

BURNETT: For the past decade, the Blue Triangle has begged for money to replace the roof but never had any luck. Now that its famous mural is moldering, there's a sense of urgency. It joins the Alley, the Grand Opera and others in a common fundraising plea. If you value arts and culture in Houston, we need help.

John Burnett, NPR News, Houston.

1 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

4 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

5 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

7 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

8 gushed   

v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

10 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

11 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

12 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

13 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

14 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

16 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

17 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

18 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

19 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

20 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

21 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

22 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

23 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

24 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

25 zipper   

n.拉链；v.拉上拉链

参考例句：

• The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
• The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。

26 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

27 sojourner   

n.旅居者，寄居者

参考例句：

• The sojourner has been in Wales for two weeks. 那个寄居者在威尔士已经逗留了两个星期。 来自互联网
• A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 出12:45寄居的、和雇工人、都不可吃。 来自互联网

28 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

29 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

30 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》