As we all know, Japan's famous Takarazuka Opera Company has a history of 106 years, the members are all unmarried women, with its unique performance culture characteristics, it has become the world's most touring song and dance troupe, only one stage play "Versailles Rose" has more than 5 million audiences, in the world, especially in Asia has gained countless female fans.
Takarazuka Opera Company's TOP is the first male actor, and has produced many male service stars, most famous for the Japanese drama queen Tenkai Yuki.
Tenkai Yuki
Shortly after the establishment of the Takarazuka Opera Company, in the 1920s, China also established an all-female class of Cantonese opera and was very successful on the stage.
Among them, the actress Ren Jianhui, who played Wen Wusheng, performed on the stage, attracted a large number of female opera fans with her heroic style and superb acting skills, and became the "first little student" in the era of Hong Kong Cantonese opera, until her death for more than thirty years, there were still female opera fans who held commemorative parties for her.
Ren Jianhui
A closer look at the two famous actresses Ren Jianhui and Tianhai Youxi, who are good at playing male roles on the stage, can see that their appearance and temperament have in common: tall and tall, slender face shape, feminine and heroic, which has both an innate side and an acquired contemplation and deliberate cultivation, such as the "big horse golden knife" style of heroism and uninhibited in the later stages of the two people's hands and feet, which is more masculine.
In Peking Opera, represented by Mei Lanfang, the kunjiao of the male dressed as the female can expand the vocal range in the singing voice; in Cantonese opera, represented by Ren Jianhui, the female plays the male horn, the appearance is elegant, the emotional level is more delicate and rich, and it is extremely attractive to female opera fans.
Unfortunately, the era of Cantonese opera all-female classes ended hastily, and no drama cultural characteristics were passed down, and after that, some Cantonese opera students who dressed as men only had skins, never studied well, and no longer served as the right hand of Jianhui.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >1, after the May Fourth Movement, Cantonese opera rose to an all-female class, and Ren Jianhui became popular</h1>
After the New Culture Movement in 1919, in the national wave of "equality between men and women", Guangzhou appeared Cantonese opera all-female classes, the most famous three of which are called "Mirror Flower Shadow", "Golden Nobile Duo" and "Qunfang Yanying", known as the three famous classes of female classes, in the south specially recruited girls aged 13 to 15 years old to learn drama, after forming the team, performed in several large rooftop playgrounds in Guangzhou, sensational, breaking the old frame of the cantonese opera all-male class.
The whole female class of the positive printing Dan Li Xuefang and other people, singing well, not to lose the famous male class of the famous celebrities, and the wenwu Xiaosheng played by the female lingers also attracted attention, the female played the female role, singing tactfully, rich in feelings, and a certain natural performance advantage, the female playing the male role, at first it was not optimistic, until later there were Chen Pimei, Huang Luxia and other famous characters.
Chen Pimei played both Hua Dan and Wen Wusheng; Huang Luxia specialized in Wen Wusheng, she admired Ma Shi Zeng's performing arts, from singing to performance, she could imitate Ma Shi Zeng, known as "Female Ma Shi Zeng".
Huang Luxia's apprentice Ren Wanyi later came to the top, later changed his name to Ren Jianhui, joined the "Qunfang Yanying" female class after leaving the school, and became a pillar at the age of 16.
She was not satisfied with the master's style of only performing witty drama, and was bent on becoming a formal literary and martial arts student, so she practiced literary drama and martial arts hard, and usually paid attention to learning to imitate the characteristics of men's behavior, and gradually formed her own stage style, and the drama path was also changed from Ma Pai (Ma Shi Zeng) to Gui Pai (Gui Mingyang).
From 1935 onwards, Ren Jianhui went from Guangzhou to Macao to act, due to the popularity of the performance, she lived in Macao for ten years, and later set up the "New Voice Theater Troupe", with her as Wen Wusheng, Chen Yannong as the zhengyin Huadan, and Bai Xuexian as the second gang of Hua Dan, with a strong match.
Ren Jianhui and his disciple Chen Baozhu
At this time, Ren Jianhui, who studied from many people, has become a style of "Ren Pai", and his reputation in Hong Kong and Macao has been greatly shocked, and because the all-female class and all-male class in Guangzhou began to integrate and match each other into male and female classes, only Ren Jianhui, who was stranded in Macao and did not return, retained the original all-female class performing arts characteristics, and also became the first literary martial arts student to play a male role as a female actor, because her stage performance of the heroic posture is not lost to the male, and more elegant and delicate than the male, so the heat has not decreased.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, in the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong opera films were popular in half the sky, and most of the fans were female audiences</h1>
In the reform of Cantonese opera, male Hua Dan and female xiaosheng were gradually eliminated, and only Ren Jianhui has always been sought after.
From 1951 to 1967, Ren Jianhui starred in a total of 290 opera films, of which "Imperial Girl Flower", "Purple Dragon", "Red Diamond Blood" and other movies were popular for a while, and when she was busy, she opened more than a dozen groups of plays a day, involving Cantonese opera, film, television, and radio, accounting for half of hong Kong's art circle.
Ren Jianhui played a female role in "Self-Combing Girl"
In addition to Ren Jianhui, other female class Wen Wusheng did not have this artistic achievement, such as Chen Pimei and others have long been unknown, Ren Jianhui's master Huang Luxia came to Hong Kong, the performance is not popular, only Ren Jianhui has been popular, until he is still active on the stage in his sixties.
Ren Jianhui, Bai Xuexian and Xiao Fangfang, Feng Baobao
Ren Jianhui's singing voice is clear but not cloudy, although her appearance is not particularly outstanding, but she is very particular about the costume, and the stage appearance is handsome and elegant, and the temperament is outstanding.
And she is well aware of her shortcomings as a maid, rarely performing martial arts, mainly literary drama, playing mostly for the male brothers and fallen scholars, most of the performances are legendary romance dramas, to establish its image of the love affair, in order to attract female drama fans, taking the idol route.
Once, her master Huang Luxia performed Ma Shizeng's famous play "Flower Butterfly", asked her to play a chivalrous warrior, Ren Jianhui quickly declined, she knew that she could not perform the strength and strength of a chivalrous warrior on the stage, and could only win with a graceful image, so she never took over the role of chivalry and general to avoid exposing shortcomings.
Like Tianhai Youxi, Ren Jianhui is a male character female star who is popular with female audiences, her fans are mostly female audiences, in addition to some female students, there are many self-combing women, mrs. ladies of large households, and even some female monks, many female fans in order to enjoy Ren Jianhui's performance at close range, buy eight yuan and nine corners of the "big ticket", and the self-combing woman's monthly salary is only thirty yuan, in order to see an idol performance, at the expense of one-third of the monthly salary.
Fans waited at the exit of the theater backstage after the end of the scene to watch Ren Jianhui's "clear dress", and Ren Jianhui always smiled at each other, listening to a sound of "Ren Sister", she walked, while constantly smiling and nodding, the look was very kind, which made the fans feel good, so whether it was Ren Jianhui acting or the release of a new movie, there were many fixed fans.
Fans are obsessed with Ren Jianhui's stage image, and the male characters she performs on the stage are generous in stage, clean shots, more gentle in style, more meticulous and considerate in deep affection, catering to the image of the dream lover of the fans, making the fans crazy.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >3, and he died with his partner Snow White</h1>
Ren Jianhui had a short marriage when he was young, and later divorced her husband Huang Su (Huang Su died), and never married again, but accompanied by her stage partner Bai Xuexian for a lifetime.
Bai Xuexian's father is a famous Bai Jurong with the title of Cantonese opera Xiaosheng King, known as one of the four Cantonese opera kings in Guangzhou, Bai Xuexian is his ninth daughter, 13 years old officially learned art from a teacher, 15 years old and 30 years old Ren Jianhui acquaintance.
Snow White Fairy
She was still a nobody at the time, and could only play supporting roles such as Yahuan "Mei Xiang" in the play, and always regarded Ren Jianhui as an idol.
Once, when she quietly went to see Ren Jianhui acting, she was recognized by Ren Jianhui offstage, and couldn't help but be surprised, the next day, Ren Jianhui came to cheer for Bai Xuexian's performance, and also invited her to join her own "New Voice Theater Troupe" Ren Erdan, who was highly marginalized in the troupe, and began to cooperate from then on.
In 1956, the 28-year-old Bai Xuexian became a positive printing Dan, and played with Ren Jianhui, who was also a teacher and friend, for a long time, one played Xiaosheng and one played Hua Dan, with countless talented and beautiful drama films, forming an indissoluble relationship, known as "Ren Bai", which became a cultural symbol of Hong Kong at that time.
In 1969, Ren Jianhui and Bai Xuexian bid farewell to the stage together and lived together as sisters, the two were inseparable, living a reclusive life, in addition to life, it was the teachings singing.
Ren Jianhui likes to play mahjong, has a warm temperament, lectures, treats teachers and friends sincerely, in addition to artistic pursuits, other things are more easy-going and easy to talk, popular, and complicated; Bai Xuexian has an introverted and strong personality, is persistent, and often solves problems for Ren Jianhui, a kind-hearted old and good man, and refuses to socialize and do chores.
The two are not only career partners, but also confidants in life, relying on each other for many years, in 1989, Ren Jianhui died of illness, and the will left most of the inheritance to Bai Xuexian, and Bai Xuexian gave a "if it can be redeemed, people are hundreds of their bodies" at the memorial service.
Since then, Bai Xuexian has been living in the remembrance of Ren Jianhui.
In 1990, Bai Xuexian set up the "Ren Bai Charity Fund" to support the study of Cantonese opera, in 1996 donated money to build the "Ren Bai Lou" engineering teaching building at the University of Hong Kong, in 2001, at the 20th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony, Bai Xuexian won the Lifetime Achievement Award as the Cantonese opera "Hua Dan Wang", and when she thanked her, she claimed: "Tonight half of this award belongs to me, and half of it is me who took it for others." It is precisely because I can take this half of the award for her, I feel so honored..."
The reason why Ren Jianhui has achieved this artistic achievement is the same as the Takarazuka Opera Troupe and Korean opera that are now popular in the world: it is because female choreographers and actresses are better at creating meticulous and profound and entangled male characters in the drama, creating a perfect lover image that is difficult for female audiences to see in reality, catering to the rich imagination and expectations of female audiences for love and lovers, with unique cultural charm.
However, compared with takarazuka Opera Company, the Cantonese opera all-female class has become a masterpiece today.