While the musicians were singing, Phillips called and asked a newspaper reporter to come over. In an article the following day, the reporter observed, "That quartet could sell a million!" He dubbed the group the "Million Dollar Quartet." The name became the inspiration for a musical by the same name.
In 2006 Million Dollar Quartet opened in regional theaters, breaking box office records. The musical first appeared on Broadway in 2010 with national and international tours following. It received a coveted Tony award in 2010.
As the show begins, each performer takes the stage and sings one of his character's well-known songs. He then freezes in place while Sam Phillips explains to the audience how he first discovered each artist. Throughout the show, there are glimpses into each man's current situation and his future.
Quartet's stars not only act, sing and play the original recording artists' songs. They also have the added challenge of portraying musicians who have well-established looks and sounds.
Million Dollar Quartet convincingly captures one December afternoon when fate brought four musical icons back to the place where they started.
Info Cloud
downstage, upstage, centerstage, stage left, stage right and backstage
Thanks for joining us on Info Cloud. Today I wanted to talk about stage directions.
I perform on stages quite often and understanding stage directions is very helpful.
Very simply, the directions on stage are downstage, upstage, centerstage, stage left, stage right and backstage.
These directions are from the point of view of the person on stage facing the audience. Downstage is toward the audience. Upstage is away from the audience.
So move downstage means move closer to the audience. Go stage left means to go to the left of the stage from the actor's point of view looking out at the audience.
There are a lot of great English sayings that come from stage directions. For example, backstage, upstage, centerstage. Backstage is behind the curtain, the place where the audience can't see.
When things happen backstage, they happen without people being aware of it.
Centerstage, or taking center-stage, is taking the area that draws the most attention right in the middle where everyone can see.
When someone moves upstage, they move away from the audience. In a play, that can draw attention away from actors downstage.
So upstaging someone means to take attention away from other people. But we don't do that on Info Cloud.
No. But we do do a lot of backstage work so that we can keep bringing new, interesting English lessons.
今天要跟大家介紹一些劇場裡走位時候會出現的用語，像是經常聽到的stage left 左舞台，和 stage right 右舞台，也就是面對觀眾在舞台上面的方向。在排練的時候，導演可能會對演員說: Can you go stage right after this line? 說完這句台詞之後，你可不可以往右舞台走。如果導演說 downstage 那就是往舞台前方，比較靠近觀眾。upstage 就是往舞台後方。centerstage 就是舞台的中央，變成所有人的目光焦點。最後還有 backstage，也就是後台的意思。這一些劇場的用語其實可以用在所有類型的舞台上。
Language Lab
dub v.被稱作為、被稱為
to give (someone or something) a name or title
- Lisa did really well in her chemistry class and was soon dubbed “the Chem Goddess.”
Lisa在化學課表現優異，很快就被稱為「化學女神」。
- Dubbed “the Court Magician,” the young basketball player can skillfully maneuver the ball and do amazing tricks with it.
這位年輕的籃球球員，能夠很有技巧地玩球，並展現高超的球技，因此被稱為「球場的魔術師」。
dub v. 配音
to replace the original recorded speech in a movie or television show with speech recorded in another language
- The movie was not well-received by the audience because it was poorly dubbed into their language.
那部電影不受觀眾好評，因為配音配的非常糟糕。
- When I first saw that movie as a kid, it was dubbed into Mandarin and I honestly thought those Hollywood actors were fluent in Mandarin.
我小時候第一次看到那部影片時，是有配音，所以我當時真的以為那些好萊塢演員真的會講中文。
covet v.想要得到或擁有
to want (something that you do not have) very much
- There must be something special about this purse because it is the brand’s most coveted item.
這個皮包一定有什麼特別之處，因為它是那家品牌最讓人想擁有的產品。
- The latest hairstyle that so many female salon patrons are coveting was first sported by an actress in a movie.
這個很多女性髮廊顧客都想要擁有的最新髮型，最早是從電影裡的一位女演員開始的。
covet v. 因為忌妒而想要得到、貪圖
- Although the king’s son is the rightful heir to the throne, the king’s brother coveted the position and started to form an evil plan against his nephew.
國王的兒子雖然是王位的合法繼承人，但是國王的弟弟貪圖王位，並開始暗算他的姪子。
- When Henry saw how his hard-working coworkers were earning commission, he began to covet what they were getting.
當Henry 看到勤勞的同事們拿到傭金時，他就開始貪圖他們所得到的。
portray v.飾演、透過表演來呈現出某一個角色
to play (a character) in a film, play, or television show
- The talented actor will be portraying the famous writer Hemingway in an upcoming movie.
那位很有天賦的演員將在一部即將上映的影片裡飾演名作家海明威。
portray v.形容成
to describe (someone or something) in a particular way
- Although history remembers the queen as a vicious ruler, the writer’s historical novel portrays her as a misunderstood female leader.
雖然歷史記載那位皇后是位凶狠的統治者，但是這位作家的歷史小說，卻把她形容成一位被誤會的女性領導者。
portray v.描述
to show (someone or something) in a painting, book, etc.
- The explorer’s written records portray the kingdom as a utopia.
探險家的紀錄把這個王國描述成一個烏托邦。
portray v. 描繪
- That painter’s most famous painting portrays his neighbor's beautiful daughter.
那名畫家最有名的一幅畫，描繪的是他鄰居的美麗女兒。
convincingly adv.讓人能夠相信地
convince v. 說服
to cause (someone) to believe that something is true
- Terry is trying to convince her parents to let her go to the movies.
Terry 試著說服她的父母，讓她去看電影。
convincing adj. 某人或某事很有說服力
causing someone to believe that something is true or certain
- I didn’t believe Harlod’s words because his actions were not convincing.
我不相信Harlod所說的話，因為他的行為沒有說服力。
convincingly adv.讓人能夠相信地
- All the questions presented by the committee were convincingly answered by the professor.
委員會提出所有的問題都被教授讓人很信服地解答了。
