2022年11月29日 VOA慢速英語：韓流音樂劇來到紐約市百老匯

 
The storylines are familiar to theatergoers on Broadway: a singer and her guide; a newcomer trying to find his place; and young women chasing their dreams.
百老匯的劇院觀眾熟悉的故事情節(jié)：一位歌手和她的導(dǎo)游；一個(gè)試圖找到自己位置的新人；和追逐夢(mèng)想的年輕女性。
 
But no musical has ever sounded like this.
但從來沒有音樂劇聽起來像這樣。
 
Over the weekend, Korean pop music arrived on Broadway as KPOP opened at the Circle in The Square in New York City.
上周末，韓國流行音樂登陸百老匯，KPOP 在紐約市廣場(chǎng)的 Circle 開幕。
 
The musical is a story of Korean pop, or K-pop, performers trying to find success on Broadway. And almost all the performers are Asian Americans or Asians.
這部音樂劇講述了韓國流行音樂 (K-pop) 的表演者試圖尋找在百老匯取得成功。而且?guī)缀跛械谋硌菡叨际莵喴崦绹嘶騺喼奕恕?br />  
Jason Kim was born in Korea and moved to the U.S. as a young child. He first thought of the idea of a play based on K-pop around 10 years ago. He staged an early version of the musical off-Broadway in 2017. Off-Broadway productions are usually smaller and less costly. Helen Park and Max Vernon wrote the music and words for the songs in the show.
Jason Kim 出生于韓國，年幼時(shí)移居美國。大約 10 年前，他首先想到了以 K-pop 為基礎(chǔ)的戲劇的想法。他于 2017 年上演了早期版本的非百老匯音樂劇。非百老匯的作品通常規(guī)模較小，成本較低。海倫·帕克 (Helen Park) 和馬克斯·弗農(nóng) (Max Vernon) 為節(jié)目中的歌曲創(chuàng)作了音樂和歌詞。
 
Korean popular music and television have been a big part of Kim's life. He also loved Broadway musicals such as A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, where the story is about what is happening behind the stages.
韓國流行音樂和電視一直是 Kim 生活的重要組成部分。他還喜歡百老匯音樂劇，例如 A Chorus Line 和 Dreamgirls，其中的故事講述的是舞臺(tái)背后發(fā)生的事情。
 
"I love backstage shows," he said. "Is there fighting going on in-between everybody? Do they all love each other? These are the questions that I asked myself."
“我喜歡后臺(tái)表演，”他說。 “每個(gè)人之間都在打架嗎？他們都彼此相愛嗎？這些是我問自己的問題。”
 
In his first version of the musical, Kim explained K-pop to an American audience largely unfamiliar with the music. The musical has since been re-written for a world where the Korean group BTS and the television program Squid Games are among the most popular entertainment.
在他的第一版音樂劇中，Kim 向基本上不熟悉這種音樂的美國觀眾解釋了 K-pop。這部音樂劇后來被改寫，以適應(yīng)韓國樂隊(duì) BTS 和電視節(jié)目 Squid Games 成為最受歡迎娛樂節(jié)目的世界。
 
Kim said, back then, America "didn't really know what K-pop was, and so there was a lot of explaining that I had to do."
金說，當(dāng)時(shí)美國“并不知道K-pop 是什么，所以我必須做很多解釋。”
 
Robert Ji-Song Ku teaches Asian American studies at Binghamton University. He said a Broadway musical with the sounds of K-pop is a sign of how "the U.S. is finally catching up with what was already going on around the world."
Robert Ji-Song Ku 在賓厄姆頓大學(xué)教授亞裔美國人研究。他說，一部帶有 K-pop 聲音的百老匯音樂劇是“美國終于趕上世界各地已經(jīng)發(fā)生的事情”的標(biāo)志。
 
Some performers in the musical KPOP have real experience in K-pop, including Luna, a former member of the group f(x). She plays the role of MwE, a singer who has spent years working toward her dreams and has arrived at an important moment in her life.
KPOP 音樂劇中的一些表演者已經(jīng)真實(shí)的 K-pop 體驗(yàn)，包括 Luna，f(x) 組合的前成員。她扮演 MwE 的角色，她是一位歌手，多年來一直為自己的夢(mèng)想而努力，并來到了她生命中的重要時(shí)刻。
 
Kim thinks it is important to see Asians in leading roles on Broadway. He said it was important to see Asians not playing the usual roles, "but playing rock stars, playing pop stars, dancing… and acting… and just being spectacular."
金認(rèn)為看到亞洲人在百老匯擔(dān)任主角很重要。他說，重要的是要看到亞洲人不扮演通常的角色，“而是扮演搖滾明星、流行歌星、跳舞……和表演……而且非常壯觀。”
 
Helen Park called the experience an honor. She said, for her, K-pop was familiar like home, but Broadway was a seemingly out-of-reach dream. In an email to the Associated Press, she said, "To be able to bring something that feels like home to me, to my dream stage, Broadway, feels like the most miraculous gift…"
海倫·帕克 (Helen Park) 稱這次經(jīng)歷是一種榮幸.她說，對(duì)她來說，K-pop 就像家一樣熟悉，但百老匯是一個(gè)看似遙不可及的夢(mèng)想。在給美聯(lián)社的一封電子郵件中，她說，“能夠把我覺得像家一樣的東西帶到我夢(mèng)想的舞臺(tái)百老匯，感覺就像是最神奇的禮物……”
 
Kim said it was also important for the show to include some Korean mixed with English. He said it is a way to be true to K-pop and Korean people. He said, "When I speak to my mom, I'm switching back and forth all the time, depending on what we're talking about."
金說，節(jié)目中加入一些混合英語的韓語也很重要。他說這是對(duì) K-pop 和韓國人忠誠的一種方式。他說，“當(dāng)我和媽媽說話時(shí)，我總是來回切換，這取決于我們?cè)谡f什么。”
 
Kim added that there is something for everyone, even those who have never heard a K-pop song.
Kim 補(bǔ)充說，每個(gè)人都能找到適合自己的東西，即使是那些從未聽過 K-pop 歌曲的人。
 
"Hopefully if we do our jobs right, you're watching a fun musical with a bunch of great K-pop songs," he said. "But really what you're getting as you leave the theater is a universal story."
“希望如果我們工作得當(dāng)，你正在觀看一部有趣的音樂劇，里面有一群很棒的人韓國流行歌曲，”他說。 “但當(dāng)你離開劇院時(shí)，你真正得到的是一個(gè)普遍的故事。”