VOA标准英语2010年-Life is a Cabaret at Entertainer Boot

Instructor¹ Tovah Feldshuh with student Nancy Gair at the International Cabaret Conference held at Yale University.

The word "cabaret" evokes² so many images — singers dressed in sequins and satin, presiding over elegant nightclubs or dark, intimate rooms, cover charges and two-drink minimums.

What is doesn't bring to mind is college dormitories, dining halls and 9 a.m. classes.

But for the past eight summers, aspiring³ singers have come to New Haven⁴, Connecticut, to attend a sort of cabaret boot camp: the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University.

Intimate connection

New York City club owner Erv Raible has been the conference's executive and artistic⁵ director for the past 30 years.

He says cabaret is a deeply emotional medium for a singer. "The intimacy⁶ of it, I think, is the most important part. The fact that, unlike any other genre⁷ in the entertainment world, you actually go into a room where you go out of there feeling like you know the person. You know something about them. They have touched your heart."

Learning how to effectively touch the heart may be the central goal of the conference but the 38 students also take classes in repertoire⁸, hair, make-up, clothing, sound, lighting⁹ and marketing¹⁰.

Their ages range from 16 to 66, and they come from all over the United States and around the globe.

 
Jack¹¹ Ladenburg
Harold Sanditen was an investment banker but has always wanted to be a singer.

A second — or third — career

Oklahoma-born Harold Sanditen began his professional life as an investment banker.

"Then I became a theater producer for 20 years in London and I gave that up three years ago to start singing, which is what I wanted to do in the very first place, but I never had the confidence."

At Yale, Sanditen and his fellow classmates have the opportunity to spend nine days working with some of the best music directors and cabaret artists in the business. That includes Laurel Massé, an original member of Manhattan Transfer, and Tony Award-winning actress Faith Prince.

At the first performance session, Sanditen performs his unique take on a Beatles song.

Prince likes it, but sees room for improvement. "I need you to not close your eyes," she tells him. "I feel like you're closing your eyes on the most important contact." He nods, and tries again.

His classmate, Lindsay Sutherland Boal, trained in opera but the Vancouver-based singer recalls she changed her mind, right in the middle of an audition¹².

 
Courtesy Lindsay Sutherland Boal
Lindsay Sutherland Boal trained in opera, but switched gears to become a cabaret singer.

Over the course of a week of 14-hour days, the teachers work hard to rid Boal of some of her operatic habits — including a tendency to be overly theatrical¹³.

Singing as story-telling

Boal learned some surprising lessons at the conference.

"It's not important, frankly¹⁴, to be a singer, to be a cabaret artist. It's all about storytelling and while I, of course, I knew that before, I understand that at a much deeper level now."

 
Pam Tate
Fred Voepel's image consultation¹⁵ class teaches aspiring cabaret singers how to look the part.

Sanditen has learned there are different ways of storytelling, too.

"Songs you think are really serious, you can find comedy in them — you can turn them. You can make something that nobody has ever sung as anything but a serious ballad¹⁶, you can make it into a comic tour de force."

He demonstrates by turning the soul classic, "Me and Mrs. Jones" — about an extramarital affair between a man and his lover, Mrs. Jones — into a modern, gender-bending ballad involving Mr. Jones, as well.

On the last night of the conference, all the students have three minutes to show what they've learned in front of a paying audience. The concert is called "Cabaret Stars of Tomorrow." Boal performs in a striking red bustier, but with a newfound stillness.

Afterwards, teacher Prince is speechless.

"I think they did incredibly, deliciously wonderful."

And who knows? Maybe some of them will be the cabaret stars of tomorrow.
 

1 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

2 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

3 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

4 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

7 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

8 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

9 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

13 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

16 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。