With the theme of local red culture, the New Dongyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe created the original Shanghai opera "Flying Over the Seventh Bridge", which has received wide acclaim and professional praise.
■ Tong Weijing, a reporter of this newspaper
In 2021, in the face of the ups and downs of the epidemic, the Shanghai private hospital group is still bearing fruitful results. According to the latest statistics of the Shanghai Performance Industry Association, nearly 90 private theater troupes have created and performed nearly 150 plays and about 50 small drama programs throughout the year, with a total of more than 9,000 performances. In the important year of the centenary of the founding of the Party, many original musicals, Shanghai operas and drama works have emerged, which have gained popularity in the Yangtze River Delta and even the whole country, demonstrating shanghai's soft power.
Only when it can withstand continuous performances can the lifeline of the work be extended
The musical "The Orphan of Zhao", created by Xu Jun Drama Art Center, is a dark horse in the national performance market in 2021 and has been listed by many people as the "annual must-see play". It set sail from Shanghai and went all the way to Nanjing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Xi'an, Shenzhen... The tour has set off a lot of surprise and heated discussions, and there have been nearly 50 performances throughout the year.
"If it can withstand continuous performance, the lifeline of the work can be extended." Xu Jun, the head of the troupe and the general director of "The Orphan of Zhao", said that in the past five years, the troupe has been exploring how to tell Chinese stories well with musicals, so that the light of reason, justice and kindness can illuminate everyone's life, so that the Chinese civilization and Chinese spirit that have lasted for thousands of years can be passed on from generation to generation. "What moved us was that many viewers actively studied classic texts and related historical materials before and after watching the play, recalled our works from the perspective of philosophy and human nature, and left a high-level drama review, which is the artistic ideal we pursue."
As the disseminators of the "Voice of Shanghai", the private Shanghai opera troupes that are deeply rooted in the local area have always insisted on taking root at the grassroots level, and the villages and villages on the outskirts of Shanghai have left their footprints. In the past year, the Qinyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe and Wenhui Shanghai Opera Troupe have performed for more than 300 days, and the troupe leader and main actors have insisted on performing in the front line almost every day, serving the grassroots while accumulating a lot of realistic themes of "Shanghai Story".
Qinyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe regards "creation and innovation" as the lifeline of the troupe's survival and development, focuses on the touching deeds of Shanghai, adapts the story of "China's Good People" three times, and uses the voice of Shanghai to sing the positive energy of society on the stage. Wenhui Shanghai Opera Troupe launches a new work every year and has accumulated more than ten newly created plays. This year, the troupe created the original Shanghainese opera "Early Spring" based on the Roushi martyrs, and performed more than 50 times in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta. When "Early Spring" returned to Roushi's hometown of Ninghai a few days ago to perform, the descendants of Roushi and the audience of their hometown gathered in the theater to relive the revolutionary deeds of the heroes and leave a touching moment.
Effective incubation platform, laying a good foundation for the cultivation of stage products
In recent years, with the support of government policies and funds and the help of forces from all walks of life, Shanghai private academies and groups have made great progress and become an important force in Shanghai's prosperous literary and artistic creation and helping the construction of the "Shanghai Culture" brand. Effective repertoire incubation has laid a good foundation for the cultivation of stage quality, and has also been praised by peers in the performing arts industry across the country.
This year, when the Macao Performing Arts Association visited and exchanged views, it said with envy: "Shanghai's incubation mechanism is really good. In the process of creation, the academy group has received guidance from experts to continuously optimize the creation so that the audience can enjoy better programs, which is of great enlightenment significance for improving the level of industrialization of performing arts. ”
Closely focusing on the centenary of the founding of the Party, the New Dongyuan Shanghai Opera Troupe has created the original Shanghai opera "Flying Over the Seventh Bridge" with the theme of local red culture, which has been widely praised and professionally praised. As a key incubated play of the Shanghai Performance Industry Association, "Flying Over the No. 7 Bridge" has been performed for more than half a year since its premiere, after two major changes and countless minor changes, repeatedly listening to the opinions of experts and audiences, and constantly striving for excellence and meticulous craftsmanship. The regimental commander, Shen Huiqin, said: "Don't be afraid to change! Because every modification makes sense. ”
From the improvement of all aspects of screenwriting, composition, directing, stage design to character modeling, the stage presentation of "Flying Over the Seventh Bridge" is more exquisite and good-looking, attracting many non-Shanghai opera fans to enter. Every actor is also riveted and fully engaged in the shaping of the character. As the lead actor, Shen Huiqin gave up most of her rest time, sometimes the rehearsal was too tired to do it, lying on the floor of the rehearsal hall still insisted on singing, constantly polishing the singing section, so that her performance and singing voice were further.
"Today, there are more and more private institutes that can bring economic effects and social influence and play a leading role in the market." Wei Zhi, president of the Shanghai Performance Industry Association, said that if you want to ask them the secret of their development, it is to always adhere to the main theme creation, adhere to the grassroots, adhere to the variety of diversity, and adhere to the market welcome. Not long ago, the Shanghai private academy group organized an excellent drama to promote the tour of the Yangtze River Delta, and Shi Haipin, deputy director of the marketing department of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, proposed that he hoped that the Shanghai private theater troupe would come to "pass on the scriptures and send treasures". He said: "The 'Shanghai experience' of grasping creation on the one hand, market ecology and platform development on the other is very inspiring and helpful to us!"
Source: Wen Wei Po