标题 The Guardian（卫报） view on the West End(伦敦西区 戏商旅管聚集地 与纽约Broadway齐名的两大戏剧中心 英国戏剧界代名词) :a perilous （危险的）business
导语 The closure（停演） of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s(人名) Cinderella（灰姑娘） is a sign of the fragility（fragile 脆弱的） of theatre in the wake of （随···后而来）Covid-19.
第一段：Cinderella will not, after all, be going to the ball(大型正式的舞会).The big new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, with its book (剧本)by Emerald Fennell, has been cancelled, less than a year into its run（上演）.The cast (演员)and crew （技术人员团队）were told the news in person （当面）over the weekend, but a similar courtesy（n.礼貌） was not accorded(a) to(b)[将a授予b] all the actors due to (预期)take over（接手） roles, some of whom found out that they faced sudden unemployment by social media, or via text messages from concerned （关切的）friends, while （时间上的同时发生）notes to their agents （经纪人）sat unread （未读）over the bank holiday （公众假期）weekend.（小长假）（最后一句言外之意：剧组未及时通知那些不公平对待的演员）It was shabby（不公平的，卑鄙的）,and it should have been done better.It is a cruel (残忍)irony （讽刺的事）that they were treated thus（avd.以这种方式，就这样） /after the pandemic （疫情）cast such clear light on 【阐明某事】/the fragility of the livelihoods （生计）of self-employed （单干的）creative workers.（中文翻译先叙述事情本身然后再对它评价）
段落大意：引话题—音乐剧停演，部分演员的权益没有得到保障，让本就艰难的创意工作者雪上加霜。
第二段：Cinderella is a clear reminder of (提醒)the perils （危险n.）of mounting (mount v.安排，组织)a West End show. The risks would be unacceptably high to businesses /operating in most other fields;investors (投资人)are wise to be lovers of the art form rather than hard-nosed (坚定的)lovers of the bottom line（最终盈亏；底价）.There is a long and inglorious (可耻的)history of West End flops （失败之作）/that looked viable （切实可行的）enough on paper（理论上）:Lord of the Rings,in 2007,cost法25m and closed after a year; the Spice Girls （辣妹组合)jukebox musical(点唱机音乐剧),Viva Forever(辣妹万岁),which had a script （剧本）by Jennifer Saunders and was produced（出品） by Mamma Mia!’s （音乐剧）Judie Cranmer, lasted only six months.
段落大意：补充背景（为什么灰姑娘停演）——投资戏剧风险太高，伦敦西区不乏失败案例。
第三段：The costs of putting on(上演) a show are enormous（巨大的）,and the returns【return on investment ROI 投资收益率】（are） slow and uncertain. Recouping(v.（收回）成本) the investment is predicated on （取决于···）box-office （票房）sales———themselves （指代前面的票房卖出）dependent on the fickle（易变的）, intangible （不可琢磨的）and largely unpredictable magic of artistic alchemy（改变事物的魔力）, and whether a show just happens to （碰巧）catch the public mood.
段落大意：解释投资戏剧容易失败的原因，投入高，收成慢，不确定性高。
第四段：Lord(爵位) Lloyd-Webber led（lead） the charge to(拼命做···) refill （v重新装满/n续杯）West End theatres last summer.Owning such venues(n.活动场地),/as he does through his company LW Theatres,)插入语/makes sense if you are able to fill them, especially with your own work(finding slots（（节目表里）的一段时间） in big West End houses（活动场地） is one of the perennial（长久的，持久的） challenges for producers mounting these big,expensive shows).But, empty(修辞后面的七家剧院) during the pandemic, his seven stages were costing yingban 符号1m a week, he told the Guardian last year.Despite his gung-ho (卖力的)attitude to getting shows back on-perhaps unwise given （prep.鉴于）the projected （v.预计）length and depth of the pandemic-the premiere of Cinderella was delayed, derailed （v.破坏）by last summer’s “pingdemic”（隔离通知大流行 ping [不正式]发送（邮件，短信））.After it finally opened to （等待）excellent reviews(n.评价) in late August,Britain was already slipping towards another sharp rise in cases and then the emergence （n.出现）of the Omicron variant（n.变种）, which closed theatres down again.It has been a rough ride（举步维艰。 an easy ride一帆风顺。 搭配have~/give sb.~）.
段落大意：补充事件—资本也无力回天。劳埃德·韦伯拥有很多家剧院，尽管他费力张罗，还是抵挡不住疫情对剧院的冲击，仍然没有让业务恢复正常。
最后一段：The closure of Cinderella-/it may fare(v.成功) better on Broadway（百老汇）,where it is headed（前往···）/-is also a reminder of the long tail（n结尾，末梢） of Covid,which may have created the most difficult and uncertain period for the performing arts since the 1665 plague （n.瘟疫）shut （关闭）London’s playhouses（n.剧院）.Some hoped that the economic disruption(n.扰乱) would precipitate（v.加速） more fairness and equality in the way （方式）/cultural workers are employed. Like many hopes of change /to come out of the pandemic,(to do 做后置定语等同定从。 是···结果。 像很多人希望疫情带来的变化一样)that （指代前文的some）seems overly optimistic.But the least producers could do is treat their employees with courtesy（n.礼貌）.
段落大意：结论——伦敦戏剧行业短时间难恢复，但行业员工应该被善待。
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