Liu Lingfei: Musicals should not be sunny and snowy

Liu Lingfei has acted in popular musicals such as "Cat" and "Becoming a Strange Doctor" over the years. Beijing News reporter Guo Yanbing photographed

The Chinese version of "Becoming a Strange Doctor" starring musical actor Liu Lingfei has toured Through Beijing and Shanghai, it will also end its performance in Guangzhou tonight. Starting with the Chinese version of "Cat", Liu Lingfei has grown into a leader in domestic musical theater actors in recent years, and some people call him the best musical theater actor in China. Recently, Liu Lingfei said in an interview with the Beijing News that he does not like the word "persistence", and the most important thing that he has been engaged in musical theater for all these years is to like, and it can support itself. At the age of thirty, he hopes to be able to go out and see the outside world in these two years.

I didn't think about going to art school, I once participated in fast men

Liu Lingfei studied piano and ballet when he was a child, but he never wanted to go to an art college. According to the expectations of his parents and himself, he studied hard in high school and was admitted to a good university in Shanghai. "In high school, I played my own band and often covered some foreign songs, and the class teacher suggested that I try art college, and if I couldn't pass the college entrance examination, I would have to take the college entrance examination."

Before being admitted to the Music and Drama Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Liu Wenfei had no concept of the Conservatory of Music and musical theater, "For me, it is a very mysterious place, I imagine that every student and teacher in it feels like an artist." But after actually entering, it was not the same as I thought. I don't say other majors, as far as our majors are concerned, no one around the students like music, and some teachers may only have a little contact with musical theater information in recent years. Therefore, I didn't have much communication with my classmates. ”

In his sophomore year, Liu Lingfei participated in the audition of Happy Male Voice in 2007 and was shortlisted for the top ten in Nanjing. Looking back on this experience now, Liu Lingfei said that "this may be the most wrong decision in my life." At that time, a sister suggested that he go to the competition, and this sister had previously participated in the super girl and won a good ranking.

After the real competition, Liu Lingfei felt that he was incompatible with this world, "uncomfortable, there are many unaccustomed, but the strength of the rebellion is in the heart, it will not be shown, and on the surface it will still be polite to everyone." In this environment, you feel like a machine, a pawn. Fortunately, I was not chosen as the last choice, and if I had chosen the path now, it would not be the same, at least now I can freely choose what I like to do."

Start with Cats to see real audiences

In 2012, Liu Lingfei starred in the Chinese version of the Broadway musical "Cat", and the "rock cat" he played had an eccentric and rebellious personality, preferring what he could not get. Because of his love of rock and roll since childhood, Liu Lingfei showed maturity beyond his peers on stage, and also let him gain a group of fans.

Liu Lingfei said that his real decision to become a musical actor began with "Cats", "It was a long tour, and I think to engage in a career first of all to treat it as a stable job, to have a stable income." 」 Because "Cats" was a long-term performance at that time, at least it could have a stable income. In fact, before that, Liu Lingfei also starred in a domestic original musical "In Love with Teresa Teng", but at that time, he did not think about making a living from it.

"Cats, by contrast, is more professional. More importantly, Cats made me see that there was a real audience. It's not that I have performed a thousand or two thousand shows to have an audience, whether there is a real audience offstage, in fact, the actor's feeling on the stage is the most intuitive. Stage performances are very important to the interaction and emotional communication between the actors and the audience, so when I performed "Cats", I at least saw a group of people who liked musicals. It made me feel satisfied to be a musical actor. Liu Wenfei feels that satisfaction is very important for him, and if there is no satisfaction in acting in a play, it is meaningless to get more money.

After the Chinese version of the musical "Cat", Liu Lingfei starred in a series of works such as "Count Dracula the Vampire", "Dangerous Game", "Spring Awakening" and so on. Liu Lingfei feels that instead of all kinds of imitations, domestic musicals are better than doing copyright dramas such as "Becoming a Strange Doctor", at least when he can't think of a good one, he can have a shape.

【q&a】

How has the musical theater market changed in recent years?

If you look at it on stage and off stage, I don't think there is much difference between the overall production level on the stage, and there are more audiences who like musicals off stage, and there is a fixed audience. If you want to talk about the problem, in fact, people in this industry know best, musical theater actors are still young, and they have become old at my age.

Personally, I don't think the musical should be a sunny white snow thing, but it's still being treated as a sunny white snow. In fact, musicals, like movies, TV series, and online dramas, are an entertainment product and a commodity.

How to judge the merits of a musical?

I have only two judgments, that is, good to look and not good. Technical things, including actors, music, lighting, choreography, etc., are not right or wrong in themselves, but there is definitely a right or wrong in a combination. If the audience thinks it looks good, then you are right, the audience is bored, not good-looking, it is wrong. It's not that I pick up a form here, get a piece of music over there, and put it together to look good, even if you find the top designers and directors in foreign countries.

Engaged in musical theater for many years, how to persevere?

Two days ago, I went to the Beijing Dance Academy to find a friend, who was an actor in "Cats" and worked as a teacher in Beiwu. One of his students asked me, what keeps you in an industry where you can't make any money? I thought about it for a long time and couldn't answer that question. Because I didn't want to undermine her confidence, she still had an idealized idea of the industry. However, I feel that instead of insisting, I may just be luckier. It's important to choose a job you like, it's important to bring that feeling of happiness, not to say stick to it and not to stick to it.

Written by Beijing News reporter Tian Chao

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