Intro
One of the most popular musicals of all time is coming to the big screen. A brand new adaptation of Les Miserables, the classic tale of love, justice, and the French Revolution, will be in theaters soon. Based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, the musical has all the elements of a romantic epic.
The thing about musicals, though, is that some people love them, and some people really hate them. Those who love them love the melodrama and the fantasy. Those who hate them usually hate them for the same reasons. Learn what Marni and Greta think in this movies English lesson.
The thing about musicals, though, is that some people love them, and some people really hate them. Those who love them love the melodrama and the fantasy. Those who hate them usually hate them for the same reasons. Learn what Marni and Greta think in this movies English lesson.
Dialogue (Download Here)
Marni: I have to say, there’s a new musical coming out, but I don’t think I can bring myself to see it, because…I don’t like musicals.
Greta: I have to say, I love Les Mis. I saw it on stage, I think I’ve probably seen it on stage two or three times, and I saw the movie that came out maybe six or seven years ago, and it was not that great, but it was not a musical. It was an adaptation of the book, and didn’t have any of the music in it.
Marni: OK. So this is a straightforward adaptation of the actual musical?
Greta: This one coming out in December is the musical.
Marni: Got it. Gosh, don’t you think, you know, musicals, they just get so melodramatic. They’re kinda corny.
Greta: I think it’s great. I think it’s a way for emotion and sentiment on a grand scale to come through.
Marni: OK.
Greta: Because we all have those feelings, but we don’t sing about them in real life.
Marni: This is true.
Greta: Mm hm.
Marni: Well, I had never thought about it that way. Who knows, maybe I’ll be persuaded to go see it.
Greta: I have to say, I love Les Mis. I saw it on stage, I think I’ve probably seen it on stage two or three times, and I saw the movie that came out maybe six or seven years ago, and it was not that great, but it was not a musical. It was an adaptation of the book, and didn’t have any of the music in it.
Marni: OK. So this is a straightforward adaptation of the actual musical?
Greta: This one coming out in December is the musical.
Marni: Got it. Gosh, don’t you think, you know, musicals, they just get so melodramatic. They’re kinda corny.
Greta: I think it’s great. I think it’s a way for emotion and sentiment on a grand scale to come through.
Marni: OK.
Greta: Because we all have those feelings, but we don’t sing about them in real life.
Marni: This is true.
Greta: Mm hm.
Marni: Well, I had never thought about it that way. Who knows, maybe I’ll be persuaded to go see it.
Discussion
Marni has heard that a new movie version of Les Miserables, or Les Mis, as fans refer to it, is coming out. She doesn’t want to see it, though, because she doesn’t like musicals.
Greta loves Les Mis, though, and she likes musicals in general. Marni doesn’t get it. She just thinks that musicals are overly dramatic and corny.
Greta thinks that that’s kind of the point. Musicals provide a way for actors to express emotion in a grand way. Musicals allow big emotions to come out through dramatic performance and song.
That’s a new way to think about it, for Marni. Maybe she’ll try to see Les Mis, after all.
Do you like musicals? Why or why not? Will you try to go see the new movie of Les Miserables?
Greta loves Les Mis, though, and she likes musicals in general. Marni doesn’t get it. She just thinks that musicals are overly dramatic and corny.
Greta thinks that that’s kind of the point. Musicals provide a way for actors to express emotion in a grand way. Musicals allow big emotions to come out through dramatic performance and song.
That’s a new way to think about it, for Marni. Maybe she’ll try to see Les Mis, after all.
Do you like musicals? Why or why not? Will you try to go see the new movie of Les Miserables?
Grammar Point
Simple Future Tense
Marni says that maybe she will be persuaded to see Les Miserables. She uses the simple future tense.
Use the simple future tense to talk about things that will happen at a time later than now. One way to form the simple future, as Marni does, is to use will. Sometime in the future, someone might persuade Marni to see the musical film.
You can also form the simple future tense by using be going to, as in, “I am going to star in a musical when I grow up.”
How could you rephrase Marni’s sentence using “be going to”?
Ex: Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.
The big screen: the screen in a movie theater
Ex: I saw Star Wars on the big screen last year.
Marni says that maybe she will be persuaded to see Les Miserables. She uses the simple future tense.
Use the simple future tense to talk about things that will happen at a time later than now. One way to form the simple future, as Marni does, is to use will. Sometime in the future, someone might persuade Marni to see the musical film.
You can also form the simple future tense by using be going to, as in, “I am going to star in a musical when I grow up.”
How could you rephrase Marni’s sentence using “be going to”?
Quiz
- Why doesn’t Marni think she’s going to see Les Mis?
- How do you know that Greta likes Les Mis?
- Which doesn’t belong?
- Which is correct?
Answer Key 1:C 2:D 3:B 4:D
Vocabulary
Of all time: of all choices, of everything created in historyEx: Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.
The big screen: the screen in a movie theater
Ex: I saw Star Wars on the big screen last year.
Adaptation: something that's been remade in a new form.
Ex: The movie Clueless is actually an modern adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Emma.
Epic: a significant artistic piece, an enormous work of art or writing.
Ex: The story of the wanderings of the hero Odysseus after the Trojan War is based on Homer's epic from Greek Mythology.
Melodramatic: overly emotional, exaggerated, or sentimental
Ex: I can't stand movies with melodramatic endings. I prefer subtle endings that are more like real-life.
Coming out: become available to the public
Ex: When is the new Madonna video going to come out? I want to see it!
Bring yourself to: make yourself do something
Ex: With this rain, I just can't bring myself to go on a run.
Straightforward: simple, direct, undeviating, not complicated.
Ex: I'm pretty straightforward and honest when it comes to my relationships with people. I don't like to play games or make things complicated.
On a grand scale: elaborate, with a lot of time and money put into it.
Ex: I don't want to see my play performed in a local theater. I want to see it on a grand scale, on Broadway!
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