Buddha and childhood sweethearts: close ties through work
Some in the industry call Shanghai's You Jishun and Xia Huihua, like Beijing's Tang Zaixin and Li Shiji, a rare pairing in the Pear Garden, a couple who have made several sensational productions with the Shanghai Peking Theater over the years, including "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu", "The Greatest Show in the Land of Zhengan" and "The Honest Official Chenglong". Several of the Shanghai Peking Opera's biggest hits over the years, such as "Cao Cao and Yang Xiu," "The Great Event of Zhen Guan," and "Yu Chenglong, the Honest Official," were the result of the couple's collaboration with Mr. Shang Changrong. Speaking of his acquaintance with Mr. Xia Huihua, Mr. You Jishun says the two are family friends, "When I was eleven or twelve years old, I learned the qin from my father who was at the Jiangsu Theatre Academy, while Mr. Xia's father was a professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, teaching Jinghu playing and vocalization, and my father often took me to Xia's house to study." But You Jishun laughed and said that both were children at that time and didn't feel anything. The real contact came when they grew up. During the Cultural Revolution, You Jishun had been in the Shanghai Peking Opera Theater's production of <
No matter what the gain or loss: a concerted effort to produce fine works
Audience who have seen the show will be very impressed with the music and singing of "The Great Event of Zhenguan", in which the music of the play integrates Shaanxi folk songs into the Peking Opera's repertoire, while the design of the singing has reformed the traditional repertoire to make it more in line with the modern audience's aesthetic interests. For the selection of northern Shaanxi folk songs, You Jishun said, "Zhen Guan event" after the establishment of the theater group, the creators had gone to northern Shaanxi Province, and finally decided to Shaanxi folk songs into the Peking Opera song. Zhen Guan event" takes place in Xi'an, and in the play "release of the harem of three thousand palace girls" in the main story interspersed with fictional charcoal seller and the love of the former courtesans, the two love expression, is through the northern Shaanxi folk songs. The story also touched Wei Zheng and Li Shimin, so the drama also arranged a short folk song duet between Wei Zheng and Li Shimin.
You Jishun said, "Zhen Guan event" "political harmony" theme is also fully embodied in the entire cast, "Zhen Guan event" will gather more than ten first-class actors, directors and composers, all the artists do not care about their personal fame and interests, wholeheartedly only to play the play, which is virtually impossible in the theater world. This is almost impossible in the opera world. Not only the first-class actors of the various trades all get together, do not care about personal gain or loss of the play, in terms of composition, the composer would have been very jealous of their own things were modified, but You Jishun himself and Gao Yiming and Gong Guotai this time there is no gap in the cooperation, the same section of the cantata, each of the three people made a draft, submitted to the director's group, and finally adopted by whom it is who, and then everyone then revised, comments. It is the full cooperation of the whole group, and only with this opera stage the most award-winning fine plays. Xia Huihua also said that the Shanghai Peking Opera Theater has had such great achievements over the years, thanks in large part to the artists do not take the "corner" frame, there is no personal competition for the play's bad habits. "Peking Opera actors should be united, we say in the jargon to pinch a handful of vegetables, can not be scattered, everyone in a whole play to play out the energy, in order to let the whole shine. When Peking Opera has a future, so do the actors."
And it is this kind of collaborative spirit that Xia Huihua, after performing the "Zhenguan Event" with illness, took part in the performance of the Shanghai Peking Opera Theater's new play, "Cheap Official Yu Chenglong", in which she acted as Yu Chenglong's wife to Mr. Shang Changrong, and she had only one scene in the whole play and only appeared in the middle of Yu Chenglong's thoughts, "but this character is close to me! close to me in age, and it needed someone with a weighty role, so I played it."
The two artists' dedication and calmness are what impressed the reporter the most during the interview. You Jishun's Jinghu and Beijing's Yan Shouping are the best in the industry, and there is a "South You and North Yan". When the reporter mentioned this title, You Jishun humbly said that this is the honor given to him by the experts and fans in the industry, and that he has nothing to say for himself. You Jishun himself does not like fancy playing, but prefers a pure and simple method of expression, "Perhaps it is the difference in soil and cultural background that creates different styles of playing. Yan Shouping's playing has a kind of northern dominance, while I'm on the side of showy and flamboyant, more concerned with tone, beauty and embodied power."
In addition to his performances and compositions, You Jishun has also recorded more than 50 accompaniment tapes, which is very rare in the industry. Talking about how fans often seek his accompaniment tapes on the Internet, You Jishun said the original intention of recording accompaniment tapes was to popularize Peking Opera.
Over the years, You Jishun has been working with Mr. Shang Changrong, and the two of them have had a very good understanding of each other. Speaking of Mr. Shang, You Jishun can't help but praise him: "Whenever I'm not quite right, Ms. Xia Huihua will tell me, 'Look at other people, Mr. Shang,' and I'll be calm down immediately. I would calm down immediately. Mr. Shang is the only actor who doesn't just care about individual performances, he does a very careful desk job, pays attention to each actor's singing on the set, and when he finds a problem, he corrects it for them."
As the Mei School's leading aoi of the Shanghai Peking Opera, Xia Huihua performed in "Zhen Guan Shaoxing" as the famously virtuous Empress Changsun. Xia Huihua said "Zhen Guan Shaoxing" is about a famous ruler and a virtuous courtier, and that Wei Zheng's courageous admonition, and Li Shimin's acceptance of his admonition, resulted in the great event of "releasing the 3,000 courtesans," but she was not the only one in this production. "But Queen Changsun in which also played a role", Li Shimin also have to listen to advice, on the spot when angry, Queen Changsun with its gentle and virtuous way, its persuasion, only to calm his anger, contributed to the late-night talks between the ruler and the court. "Playing this character, I feel that my heart has become open and generous with it, and I will be more considerate of others and the big picture, rather than always confining myself to personal gains and losses." This is one of the biggest rewards for Xia Huihua in this drama. Talking about a lot of actors and actresses all their lives just in the line not acting characters, Xia Huihua said, the actor to the end, the fight is culture, "opera actors often heavy singing not heavy cultural cultivation, but in fact reading history books, reading masterpieces on a person's influence is subtle, pick up the script, the usual accumulation of these will help you to better understand the characters and the script. "
Xia Huihua did not have much of a part in "Zhengguang Event" and has been in poor health since the first day of rehearsals with the cast, with bicycle falls and heart attacks, and before the second performance in Beijing, she had "hematuria", said You Jishun, "really pots and pots of blood. Before her second performance in Beijing, she suffered from "bloody urine", said You Jishun, "it was really a pot of blood", and this time in Guangzhou, she had just undergone breast cancer surgery. Although after her illness, the troupe arranged for a young actor, Li Guojing, to replace her when needed, Xia Huihua still insisted on performing for the Guangzhou audience. "This is the rule of our profession, we have to be responsible for the audience. According to the old rules, your name is written on the poster, the audience buys the ticket, you have to go on stage to sing even if you are sick, and then go to the doctor afterward." And the second time she performed in Beijing, it was indeed the ambulance that pulled up outside the theater, and she got off the stage and went straight to the hospital.
Unexpected: Guangzhou college students love Peking Opera
The first thing the cast and crew of The Greatest Show on Earth did when they arrived in Guangzhou was not to hold a press conference, but rather to go into a university town and talk to college students. Performing artists of the crew gave college students some general knowledge of Peking Opera and made a demonstration performance by the artists on the spot, seven to eight hundred college students came to the small auditorium, You Jishun said that he had never seen such a positive response, and the students sang the "The Tale of the Red Lanterns" and the "Su San Rise and Fall" of the Xia Huihua was happy to say, "Once the general knowledge of Peking Opera is told, they can answer all of the questions that we asked. I sang 'The Tale of the Red Lantern' and 'The Rise of Su San' to the students. After I sang 'The Tale of the Red Lantern', some students actively came up to the stage and said they could sing it, and some of them could do simple stances, which we didn't expect. Peking Opera is a northern opera, we thought the students here wouldn't accept it, but we didn't expect it to be so popular." Both You Jishun and Xia Huihua said that it is their expectation as Peking Opera people to let Peking Opera come into the youth and the youth go to the classical, "We hope that Peking Opera can take root, sprout and bear fruits in the young audience. The relationship between art and people is actually the same as the relationship between people and people. After contacting and recognizing it, you will like it. In the college students in Guangzhou, we see the young audience of Peking Opera." Ms. Xia Huihua said emotionally.
And when it comes to the enthusiasm of the Guangzhou audience, You Jishun is also y touched, he said: "Guangzhou audience has a good quality and cultivation, and also has a considerable understanding of Peking Opera, especially this exchange with the college students more so that we see in Guangzhou Peking Opera turned out to have so many enthusiasts, we hope that the next time we can bring the 'incorruptible official Yu Chenglong' to come. "