Xiao Zhan's addition has made the Yanghua version of "Like a Dream", which has been rehearsed for 9 years, become the most popular drama work on the Internet so far: frequent Weibo hot searches, a ticket is difficult to find, online ticket grabbing 320,000 people per second... However, for his first attempt on the drama stage, more people look at it with colored glasses: traffic stars have no acting skills, rely on dramas to gild, and the organizers are not worried about the box office...
After the two-stop tour in Wuhan and Qingdao, on the evening of June 3, the official announcement of the Chengdu station of the Yanghua version of "Like a Dream" will be performed at the Sichuan Grand Theatre on June 18-20. Wang Keran, chief producer and founder of Yanghua Drama and who has been engaged in theater work for 15 years, was interviewed by a Red Star News reporter, "We have always hoped that drama can have greater influence and more people can enter the theater, if it can be done, then Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang and other actors have great merit." He admitted that he hopes to pry more teenagers into the theater through the drive of traffic stars.
Stills from "Like a Dream"
【A ticket is hard to find】
I hope that the audience can buy tickets at the normal price
Starring Xu Qing, Feng Xianzhen, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang, Huang Lu, Yan Nan, Kong Wei, Ge Xinyi, Zhao Zizin and other actors, the Yanghua version of "Like a Dream" is in the ninth anniversary of the national tour. The joining of star actors, especially traffic superstar Xiao Zhan, has made this drama that has been born for 21 years the most recent theatrical work.
The drama "Like a Dream" has high requirements for the theater itself: the theater in the form of a surround, can accommodate 1400-1800 spectators, the performance is close to 8 hours, the audience sits in the central area of the stage, more than 30 actors, more than 300 sets of costumes, the stage contains eight directions, three floors, through time (the early years of the Republic of China, modern) and space (Taipei, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, Normandy)... In Chengdu, there are only a few theaters that can meet such requirements, and the Sichuan Grand Theater is one of them. "Every day, I receive messages and phone calls from fans asking if we need cleaners, interns, and volunteers, which is really the first time we have encountered such a situation." A staff member of the Sichuan Grand Theater told the Red Star News reporter with some helplessness.
"We love the city of Chengdu very much, both the cast and the crew. Being able to give this play to the audience in Chengdu to feel is a very happy and expectant thing for each of us. Wang Keran said that there are many Chengdu elements in this play, "Huang Lu is an international film queen, Wang Lu is one of the creators of our music, they are all Chengdu people." ”
Xiao Zhan and Huang Lu
However, for audiences in Chengdu, it may be a headache because they can't buy tickets. Red Star News reporter learned from practitioners in the drama performance industry that before the two stops of the tour, the tickets sold by scalpers had to be increased by at least 10,000, and the "Lotus Pond" (stage center area) was even rumored to be increased by 100,000 yuan to buy. "Wuhan Station instantly reached 130,000 people grabbing tickets per second after ticketing, and Qingdao Station grabbed more than 320,000 hits per second." A drama lover who had participated in the ticket snatching said: "My hand speed and network speed have been brushed twice, each time it is two hours, watching the tickets disappear little by little." What will I do next? It's really hot. ”
All the audiences snatched tickets through the organizer's only designated ticketing APP, which is unique for drama performances. "We have a headache about this, but there is no way. What we can do now is to issue invoices for everyone to grab, and then people and certificates (ID cards) are integrated. "Wang Keran told Red Star News that they hope that the audience can buy tickets at normal prices." After all, the scalpers can be snatched away by a minority, and I personally think it may not exceed 20%. Every time the ticket is issued, it is really seen that it was snatched away by (the audience). Maybe they (scalpers) have some technical means, and there are also some special ticket speculation. But this is really something we can't control, and it's not something we can achieve. ”
Poster of "Like a Dream"
【Tie-in Xiao Zhan】
His complexity is enough to represent the complexity of the play
There is no doubt that the "initiator" who is hard to find is Xiao Zhan. Although "Like a Dream" also had top stars like Li Yuchun join at the earliest, the addition of Xiao Zhan this time has made the mutual achievements of stars and dramas reach an unprecedented new height.
According to the Red Star News reporter, the earliest star drama in China was "Konok or the Victory of Medicine" starring Jiang Wen in 1998. But the real market operation of the concept of "star drama" and its continuous success is the famous host Ye Huixian. In 2001, Ye Huixian launched an all-star version of the drama "Sentinel under the Neon Lights", which gathered stars such as Ni Ping, Liao Changyong, Huang Doudou, etc., and since then, he has successively launched the star versions of "Home" and "Thunderstorm", etc., and this successful model has been imitated by many performance units.
Xiao Zhan
Talking about Xiao Zhan's association with "Like a Dream", Wang Keran revealed that everything originated from the special event on the 110th anniversary of Cao Yu's birth last year. "At that time, I needed to find a young guest who could talk to Wanfang, and a colleague recommended Xiao Zhan. I got to know him at the time and thought he was very special, very much in line with the characteristics of the young people we needed to invite at that session. ”
Wang Keran further explained this "trait", "So many people are attacking him, I want to understand what this attack is, I found that the most real thing and the most hypocritical thing of this group of people have a contradiction, the idols of this era are different from five years ago, they are put there as a symbol, something that is used and even trampled on." Through Xiao Zhan, I have paid attention to various new rhythms in social development, and only by understanding this rhythm can works of art conform to the times. My personal view of drama is like this, drama must be the dramatic action on the stage at this moment and the crowd in the here and now. ”
In Wang Keran's view, the complexity of Xiao Zhan's body is enough to represent the complexity of the drama. "At the event site, in the process of dialogue between Xiao Zhan and Wanfang, the characteristics expressed, the actions, and the energy on the stage made me have the desire to invite him." Xiao Zhan, who received Wang Keran's invitation, was surprised at first, and then he thought about it for a while. "(Xiao Zhan) I don't know how to do inner construction, but he asked me for the script. He said he was interested, curious, and apprehensive. After getting the script, a period of time passed, and probably when the two communicated for the third time, Xiao Zhan agreed.
Although the introduction of Xiao Zhan on Baidu Encyclopedia is "Chinese mainland actor and singer", his acting skills have not convinced the public. When he decided to star in a drama, many people questioned: dramas are not like film and television dramas, can Xiao Zhan go down at one time? In fact, such a question also exists in Xiao Zhan's heart. It wasn't until he completed the first performance of "Like a Dream" in Wuhan that he issued such a feeling, "When running in, rehearsing, and investing, the biggest challenge is whether you can contribute your most sincere emotions at the moment, which is the biggest challenge for me." ”
【Acting Skills Questioning】
This time, everyone said that Xiao Zhan was a "good actor"
Different from previous years, this year's actors in "Like a Dream" have changed more than half, which theoretically takes a month and a half to rehearse, but it is not easy to let more than thirty actors set aside such a long schedule at the same time, and the crew only grabbed 17 days of rehearsal time. Rehearsals officially began on March 9 this year, the crew was stationed in Tangshan, Hebei Province, and Xiao Zhan also suspended other work and concentrated on rehearsals.
"I talked to him (Xiao Zhan) that if you come you have to take out so much time. He didn't make any bargains with us and strictly adhered to the time we agreed on the contract in advance. So far, there has not been a single delay. Wang Keran told Red Star News that at the just-concluded Qingdao station, Xiao Zhan also deliberately increased the rehearsal time. This time in Qingdao, Xiao Zhan told me that he hoped to have more time to devote to practice, we were originally rehearsing in the afternoon, he arrived in the morning and spent a whole day rehearsing. Originally, he had other work plans for this time period, and they were temporarily adjusted and given to "Like a Dream". "In his opinion, Xiao Zhan's hard work and intentions after entering the group are visible to the naked eye." Very, very hard working, and at the same time he is very smart. His expression, his entry process is very fast, the run-in is still very fast. Yes, he's a very good actor. ”
Xu Qing and Xiao Zhan
Xu Qing also used "good actor" to evaluate Xiao Zhan. "I really think Xiao Zhan is a good actor, and he can be on the stage in a down-to-earth manner, rehearsing for more than ten days, not taking a day off, experiencing every day, this hard work has won the respect of all of us." On the first day of rehearsal, Xu Qing found that Xiao Zhan had completely memorized his lines, and Huang Lu, who had many opponents with Xiao Zhan, was also impressed by this. Huang Lu said that the tacit understanding between the two was established in only three or four days, and in the details of the performance, they will also inspire each other. "There is no difference between working with him (and working with others), the biggest change is that Weibo private messages have a lot of comments from Xiao Zhan's fans, most of them cheering and encouraging."
An audience member who watched the rehearsal at the Wuhan station said, "The feeling of these two days is that this male artist's performance is quite OK, much better than I imagined, and originally with some doubts, thinking that this must be an additional potential energy greater than the performance itself." It's not for anyone, after all, this performance is not 'average', it is indeed 'quite good'. "It is understood that the public welfare field of Wuhan Station gave most of the ticket lottery to medical staff and volunteers, and not many were open to fans, so the evaluation was more pertinent." From the perspective of the fluency of the lines, the relaxation of the body, the control of the rhythm, and the calmness of the typhoon, Xiao Zhan's performance is quite qualified. Xu Qing said that he was sincere on stage and did not deliberately praise. Huang Lu, who has many rival plays with him, said that some of the details in the play, such as the idea of the two people talking head-to-head in a narrow apartment in Paris, came from Xiao Zhan, which seems to show that he is seriously studying offstage. One viewer commented.
【Acting with peace of mind】
Give the actors a clean creative environment
In an interview with Red Star News, Wang Keran admitted that he was very nervous before the premiere of this round of tour. "Like the difference in the actors, everyone's way of performing, whether the new state can meet the expectations of the audience, the overall goal of our creative team, etc., these are unknown before they are officially performed and reviewed by the audience, and of course there will be tension." Although nervous, he never had any expectations for the performance effect. "Everything is put into preparation, in preparation, and I have a habit of burying my head in things and not always looking up at the road. I believe that the distance must be the direction of your path. This is a sentence written by a big friend of Wang Keran in his notebook when he was a child. Now it seems that it will help him all his life. "Don't always predict the goal, don't preset, and do it steadily in this direction." Lower your desires and intensify your actions. ”
The results are obvious, leaving aside the box office hits, the whole team, every actor, is in good shape on stage. "In the previous rehearsal, I invited scholars from the theater circle to watch the play, and they praised Xiao Zhan for his good performance, and I was also proud to recommend this new and good actor to the people around me." Wang Keran said.
Wang Keran (middle)
I remember that after the Wuhan premiere, Xiao Zhan summed up "I think it can be better", and he did it at the next Qingdao station. "I'm not saying that he has made progress in any small movement, but I can clearly see him, and this time when [Qingdao Station] is on the stage, he has more calmness than the last time (Wuhan Station)." Wang Keran paused slightly, once again emphasizing "calm", "In each performance, the actor cannot be completely carved out according to a mold, but he is more profound in the performance construction of character expression and psychological externalization of many characters." If you move in a deep direction, then the sense of power of the task is stronger. ”
In order to let the actors always focus on the stage, Wang Keran wanted to give the actors a clean creative environment from beginning to end. Taking Xiao Zhan as an example, Wang Keran not only helped him block countless autographed photos, but also did not arrange for him to do an interview during the entire tour. "I want him to have more time and feel at ease acting." His own request is also to act with peace of mind, because he considers himself a new actor, a new theater experiencer. He should be on stage if he has time, and my feeling is that he is. ”
【Focus on drama】
Traffic stars can guide more teenagers into the theater
In the backstage of the Wuhan Qintai Grand Theater, Xiao Zhan's lounge door is not hung with the name tag of "Xiao Zhan", but "No. 5" - in the "Dream like a Dream" crew, there is no traffic star Xiao Zhan, only "Patient No. 5 B".
Not only Xiao Zhan, Xu Qing, Zhang Liang, huang Lu, they are not big stars in "Like a Dream". "Our crew has never rejected big stars, on the contrary, everyone here is very happy, because they are acting together." Wang Keran revealed that the crew's "care" for the stars is only slightly higher than other actors, "there is a car, in the theater where conditions permit, give a separate dressing room." Sometimes, in theaters where conditions don't allow, all the actors just put on makeup and work together. ”
Xu Qing and Zhang Liang
Previously, when Liu Ye starred in the drama "Amber", he once told the Red Star News reporter: "If the entire rehearsal and performance time of "Amber" is taken to pick up film and television dramas, I will at least earn millions more." During the rehearsal of "Like a Dream", Huang Lu also said that everyone sometimes joked that "delayed making money", but everyone felt that it was very good, and it was rare to concentrate on doing a thing, eating and living together in Tangshan, rehearsal days, much like returning to campus.
Wang Keran told Red Star News that the rehearsal fee for the actors of "Like a Dream" is 100 yuan per day, and Xiao Zhan is no exception. This is actually a common practice in drama rehearsals, not an isolated case. For more than a decade, Wang Keran has been pursuing empathy and equality for star actors and other actors, "so as to ensure integration in the work and to have rapid and safe progress." ”
Wang Keran has said that he will not take the second of the ticket as the standard, and he will not turn the drama stage into a fan meeting. But it is undeniable that "Like a Dream" poured in a lot of Xiao Zhan's fans, because of Xiao Zhan, the theater will emit the screams that only exist in the concert, will you worry that the fan's support culture will affect the drama itself? Wang Keran replied, "I don't know what you mean by the culture of assistance. I don't care if they come to do anything else, they come to finish the play, isn't it the audience that we theater, we as the creators of the theater, need the most? As for who they were before and what they did, it was not the point. Watching the play is the audience, and our duty is to perform the play well and let more people enter the theater. A drama practitioner also told the Red Star News reporter, "The traffic star joining the drama makes the society see the determination and mentality of young artists, leads the traffic circle to develop in a down-to-earth direction, and guides more fans to appreciate different art forms, which is a positive effect." ”
"All our lives, we hope that drama can have greater influence, more people can enter the drama, if it can be done, then Xu Qing, Xiao Zhan, Zhang Liang and other actors have great merit." Wang Keran hopes that through this play, more teenagers will be leveraged to enter the theater. "Through the creation and play of this project, through these performances, I hope that more [people] will pay attention to the drama and more people will enter the theater."
Red Star News reporter Ren Hongwei intern Guo Congli According to the interviewee
Edited by Li Jie
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