Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun: We have been with Shangjing for 40 years
Shangjing public number
1
A name that awakens memories
Her parents loved to listen to drama, her brother and sister played from elementary school, and Tong Xiangling developed an uncontrollable love for Peking Opera in her ears. At the age of 8, he took the stage, learned art from his teachers all the way, and became popular all over the country in the most beautiful years, shaping the legendary hero Yang Zirong in the hearts of a generation and becoming a well-known horn. In the 1970s, under the influence of the wave of national reform, he followed the footsteps of the times and continued to write his artistic imagination.
Although she is old, talking about the early days of reform and opening up 40 years ago, traditional drama was fully "lifted" and returned to the Peking Opera stage, Tong Xiangling still can't hide her excitement: "It was the advent of a new era, I haven't performed traditional drama for a long time, the audience is looking forward to it, and we actors also have drama addictions." I returned from frequent modern drama performances to traditional dramas, and I feel that it is another new starting point for my acting career. As a Peking Opera actor, I am sincerely excited, and I am even happier with my lover, and we can act together again! ”
2
The Age of Gratitude
The two can finally meet on the stage again
Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun are the famous pear garden couple in the circle. One is a heroic old student, the other is a dignified and delicate green coat, and the combination of talent and beauty is enviable. Tong Xiangling still remembers "a long and heel-length braid behind his back" when he first met his wife, and now the two have been together for more than 60 years, spending the golden wedding season, and the times are changing rapidly, they walk hand in hand, just as agreed. For them, the years are no longer merciless, but the witnesses of love commitment.
Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun are the loving partners offstage, the gold medal partners on the stage, the two often stage husband and wife, the most cooperative is the traditional drama "Wujiapo". The dual identity inside and outside the play makes the two have a tacit understanding and are handy in acting. Reform and opening up has brought a new atmosphere to the opera stage, and in 1979, after the lifting of the ban on traditional drama, the two who had not cooperated for more than ten years once again performed "Four Soldiers" at the Yan'an Theater, playing Song Shijie and Yang Suzhen respectively. After that, the two returned to the stage life of "husband singing and women singing".
Tong Xiangling: "When I was busy acting in modern dramas, Nanyun did not have the opportunity to act because there were no modern drama works. In the era of gratitude, we can finally meet on the stage again. Because she had rested for more than ten years, when she first appeared, the fans were very surprised, dressed well, had a bright voice, and thought that this was a new horn."
"Wu Jia Po" Tong Xiangling as Xue Pinggui, Zhang Nanyun as Wang Baojun
Although the union of the two is the word of the matchmaker, the marriage contract made by the parents of the two sides early is indeed a heavenly marriage. Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun said that the two have gone through most of their lives together, except for the occasional artistic divergence due to the discussion of drama, and their lives have always been very harmonious. Tong Xiangling is cheerful and straightforward, Zhang Nanyun is gentle and introverted, and the personalities of the two can be described as very "complementary". Tong Xiangling: "My temperament is more extroverted, usually mainly I love to tease her!" Together for decades, I've never blushed at anything. When there is a trouble in the heart, everyone tells each other frankly, makes decisions together, and faces them together. ”
(Xiaobian can testify that Teacher Tong is really funny!) During the interview and shooting, the photographer said that he would let Teacher Zhang "move a little more", and Teacher Tong on the side quickly seized the opportunity to ridicule: Let you move bigger, you don't take the opportunity to slap me! ”）
Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun, who are pigs of the same age, harvested different pig ornaments from friends on the golden wedding anniversary, full of a cabinet! Under the careful decoration of the couple, it is very warm.
3
"Boss Tong" started the contracting group
In the artistic spring of cultural prosperity and development, the opera stage has been revitalized. The times called for reform, and opportunities followed. In 1983, Tong Xiangling and Zhang Nanyun responded to the state's literary and artistic call and signed a contract group, and Tong Xiangling, as the general leader of the contracting group, led more than 70 theater employees to independently form a group to start a nationwide tour in full swing.
"Mulberry Garden Club" Tong Xiangling as Qiu Hu and Zhang Nanyun as Luo Shi
From an actor who is bent on the stage to a troupe "boss" who leads the performance operation, Tong Xiangling is worried, "The contracting group system is completely self-financing, and I must grasp the performance connection, project operation, financial revenue and expenditure, etc. I'm just an actor, I don't have any experience, whether I can stably pay everyone and let the troupe survive is all a problem. Fortunately, Nanyun and I discussed and discussed with each other and faced challenges and setbacks together. I am also very grateful to everyone for their trust in me, everyone tied their hearts together and worked hard to complete the performance successfully. This is a very precious artistic experience for me, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go deep into the mass performance. ”
During the one-year contract period, performance invitations came pouring in, and traditional plays such as "Heroes of the Crowd", "Ganlu Temple", "Red Lady" and "Wu Jia Po" were often performed. Tong Xiangling led the team to "run" across the country, and everyone lived in the guest house together, slept in the backstage of the performance, and walked in the theaters large and small, enduring the heat and cold in the temporary open-air stage. The state of "continuous rotation" of performing several times a day and performing for one month is the norm of touring, and the hardships are self-evident. As a "box office call", Tong Xiangling almost appeared on the stage, and even vomited blood due to overwork. The companionship of his beloved wife, the trust and support of the group members, and the favor and pursuit of the audience are the continuous motivation of Tong Xiangling, recalling the grand situation of "not singing or stepping down" at the end of each performance, his most memorable thing is what he has seen and heard in various remote rural performances.
"Red Lady" Zhang Nanyun as Red Lady Tong Xiangling as Lu Su in "Heroes of the Crowd"
Tong Xiangling: "Once, a remote township in Northern Jiangsu Invited us to perform, and I heard that there was a huge number of peasants there, and I knew that we were not excited to come. At that time, we performed two times a day, just in the most rudimentary open-air stage, many people watched the first one but did not want to go, just sat and waited for the next one, and finally dispatched the police station to mediate disputes. I felt that rustic passion, and I was touched by their thirst for traditional culture. It was worth the hard work we had to go to the countryside to perform. During these days of the tour, our bodies were tired, but our hearts were full and satisfied. ”
Under the dual pressure of performance income and high-intensity rehearsal, "Tong Boss" still has a persistent pursuit of artistic standards. He arranged a director with the troupe to revise the performance effect at any time. For him, acting in traditional drama is not based on experience, "I have always remembered the words of the old dean Mr. Zhou, the program of Peking Opera is based on life and simplifies life, but if it is too simplified, it is not moving, the performance should have a sense of reality, pay attention to the inner drama of the characters, you must let the audience first see that there is sadness in your eyes, and then wipe away tears." I have also been summing up my performance experience in modern dramas and newly created plays, that is, performing traditional plays, but also keeping pace with the times, "old plays and new performances".
Interview/Author: Tang Qian'er
Photography, video: Jiang Diwen
Data chart finishing: Yu Kaiyi