Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1049, Buying Theater Tickets.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1049.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between David and Susie. about buying tickets to see a play at a theater.
Let's get started.
I can't believe I'm going to get to see my favorite actor in a play.
I want front row seats.
I'm looking at the venue's seating plan right now and all front row seats are taken for the entire run.
I'm guessing that season ticket holders got those.
Damn.
All right, let's try to get seats as close to the stage as possible, preferably in the orchestra.
The only orchestra tickets still available have partially obstructed views.
Okay, we'll take those.
But we won't be able to see the entire stage.
These tickets in the lodge or mezzanine or even the balcony will give us a better view of the play.
I don't need to see every part of the play.
I just want to get as close to him as possible.
Wait one second.
I see two seats in the second row still available for the matinee performance.
Oh no, those are seats for wheelchair access.
That's great.
We'll take those.
But neither of us needs wheelchair access.
I'll break a leg if I have to, to get that close to him.
Do the words obsessed fan mean anything to you?
You can call it obsession, but I call it devotion.
Susie begins our dialogue by saying to David I can't believe I'm going to get to see my favorite actor in a play.
A play is a theatrical performance, a dramatic performance, usually done on what is called a stage, inside of something called a theater.
Play as a noun refers to the performance, but it can also refer to the actual words of the performance.
We talk about Shakespeare's plays like Macbeth and Julius Caesar.
These are dramatic pieces of literature that Shakespeare wrote and that are now performed as plays.
Here Susie is using play in the sense of the performance, the actual acting out of the play, if you will.
Susie says, I want front row seats.
The chairs or the places where you sit.
The seats in a theater are arranged in lines, often curved lines, called rows.
Each row has a certain number of seats, a certain number of places where people can sit.
The front row would be the row that is closest to the stage, the area where the play is being performed.
David says.
I'm looking at the venue's seating plan right now and all front row seats are taken for the entire run.
A venue.
V-E-N-U-E is just another word for the place where something is performed, such as a play or a concert.
The seating plan is a picture that shows the different rows in the theater.
Nowadays, when you buy your tickets online, over the internet, to see a play or a concert, you can look and see which seats are available on the seating plan.
The seating plan for this play shows all front row seats taken.
When we say the seats are taken, we mean they're not available.
Someone else has already bought them.
The front row seats are taken for the entire run, David says.
The run, R-U-N, of a play is the period of time that the play is being performed.
Most plays are performed for a few weeks, sometimes for months and months.
It depends on the play and where it is being performed.
There are plays on Broadway.
The street in New York that has large theaters where you can see theatrical performances, has plays that have been running for years.
So it just depends on the play and how popular it is.
David says, I'm guessing that season ticket holders got those.
Season ticket holders are people who buy tickets for all of the different plays being performed, either at a specific theater or, more typically, by a theater company, a group of actors that puts on plays.
You could also be a season ticket holder for a professional baseball team or for a college football team.
That means you would have tickets for all of the games during the time when games are being played during the season.
For example, baseball season is from April to October.
If you had season tickets, you would have tickets for all of the games during.
I used to have season tickets for one of the theater groups here in Los Angeles.
That was many years ago, I'm afraid.
David says the season ticket holders probably got the front row seats.
They get the first opportunity to buy seats.
Susie is not happy.
She even swears she's so unhappy.
She says, damn, D-A-M-N.
All right, let's try to get seats as close to the stage as possible, preferably in the orchestra.
The stage, S-T-A-G-E, is the place where the play is performed.
It's usually a raised floor that's somewhat above the people who are watching the play, so everyone can see it easily.
In some theaters, right next to the stage, there's a place for an orchestra, a group of musicians to play music.
However...
Many theaters have what's called an orchestra section, where there are seats that you can purchase that are also close to the stage, in the very front section of the theater.
That's where Susie wants to get tickets.
David says, however, the only orchestra tickets still available have partially obstructed views.
If your view is obstructed, O-B-S-T-R-U-C-T-E-D, it is blocked.
You can't actually see it.
Partially means partly, not completely.
So seats that have a partially obstructed view are seats from which you can see the stage, but there might be.
Something blocking your view.
There might be a pole or there might be, I don't know, part of a wall that is blocking your view.
Often in large theaters, there are what are called pillars, P-I-L-L-A-R-S, that are used to support the roof, to hold the roof up.
But if their seat is behind the pillar or next to the pillar, it may obstruct or block your view.
Susie says, well, we'll take those.
We'll take the partially obstructed view seats.
David says, but we won't be able to see the entire stage.
Entire here means the whole thing completely.
He then says these tickets, referring to a different set of tickets in the loge or mezzanine, or even the balcony, will give us a better view of the play.
Theaters are divided into different sections.
We talked about the orchestra section, which would be right next to the stage.
The loge, L-O-G-E, section of a theater is, is located in the front of the balcony in a theater.
A balcony, B-A-L-C-O-N-Y, is a second level in the theater.
You have seats on the ground floor, the first floor of the theater, and then you may have some seats on a second level.
That second level is called the balcony.
The loge, then, is the front section of the balcony.
The word mezzanine, M-E-Z-Z-A-N-I-N-E, usually refers to the middle of something.
Mezzanine in a theater would be the section in a balcony where there is more than one balcony.
So if you have two balconies, which would be three total levels of seats, the middle or lowest balcony would be the mezzanine level.
Sometimes you'll see that word mezzanine refer to a level in a building that's in between say, the ground floor and the floor above it.
It's actually a floor in between two other floors that are numbered either 1 and 2 or 0 and 1.
Here it refers to a balcony in the theater, the lowest balcony.
Notice, however, that David talks about the balcony seats.
Mezzanine seats are in the balcony, in a balcony.
But when we talk about balcony seats, especially if the theater is a big one and it has more than one balcony
You often are referring to the upper levels, the upper balconies, not the lower one, not the mezzanine one.
It's a little confusing because they're all called balconies.
But in this case it means seats that are above the mezzanine level, on a balcony above the mezzanine.
Susie then says, I don't need to see every part of the play...
I just want to get as close to him as possible.
We were talking about obstructed views, but Susie says something here a little confusing.
She says, I don't need to see every part of the play.
Normally when we talk about a part of the play, we're talking about a section of it, not seeing just part of the stage.
Perhaps that's what she means here.
She says she just wants to get as close to her favorite actor as possible.
David says wait one second, meaning stop talking.
Wait for me to do something or tell you something.
Then he says, I see two seats in the second row still available for the matinee performance.
The second row would be the row behind the front row.
A matinee, M-A-T-I-N-E-E, performance is a performance during the day.
Typically plays are performed at night, but sometimes they perform them during the day, say at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
That would be a matinee performance.
You can also talk about a matinee movie, a movie that is shown in a movie theater in the afternoon in addition to the evening.
David has found a couple of seats, but then he realizes there's a problem.
He says, oh no, those seats are for wheelchair access.
A wheelchair is a seat with a round wheels on them, I guess most wheels would be round, right?
That allow the person in the chair to move back and forward.
Wheelchairs are for those who are not able to walk or walk very easily.
Wheelchair access refers to a place where wheelchairs can be put in a theater, in this case in order to watch the play.
Susie says, that's great.
We'll take those.
She wants David to buy these wheelchair access seats.
David says, but neither of us needs wheelchair access.
Susie responds, I'll break a leg if I have to, to get that close to him.
Susie says she's going to go out and break her leg in order to get a wheelchair, so she can sit in these seats.
David says, do the words obsessed fan mean anything to you?
A fan, F-A-N, is someone who enjoys a particular kind of entertainment or a particular person.
Obsessed, O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D, is when you are only able to think about one thing.
You can't think about anything else.
An obsessed fan would be a fan who will do anything to get close to the person or the object of which they, He or she is a fan, I guess.
The expression do the words blank mean anything to you is sort of a funny way of saying that you are this thing.
You are whatever I have described.
So in this case, David is saying that Susie is an obsessed fan.
Susie says you can call it obsession, but I call it devotion.
Devotion, D-E-V-O-T-I-O-N, is love or loyalty towards someone, something, or to God.
We can talk about devotion in a religious sense.
Susie is devoted to her favorite actor.
Hopelessly devoted to him, you might say.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I can't believe I'm going to get to see my favorite actor in a play.
I want front row seats.
I'm looking at the venue's seating plan right now and all front row seats are taken for the entire run.
I'm guessing that season ticket holders got those.
Damn.
All right, let's try to get seats as close to the stage as possible, preferably in the orchestra.
The only orchestra tickets still available have partially obstructed views.
Okay, we'll take those. but we won't be able to see the entire stage.
These tickets in the loge or mezzanine, or even the balcony, will give us a better view of the play.
I don't need to see every part of the play.
I just want to get as close to him as possible.
Wait a second.
I see two seats in the second row still available for the matinee performance.
Oh no, those are seats for wheelchair access.
That's great.
We'll take those.
But neither of us needs wheelchair access.
I'll break a leg if I have to to get that close to him.
Do the words obsessed fan mean anything to you?
You can call it obsession, but I call it devotion.
We hope you've enjoyed your front row seat to this podcast episode.
We'd like to thank Dr. Lucy Say for writing the wonderful script.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
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