19 13 autumn, Xu, the boss of Shanghai Dangui No.1, made a special trip to Beijing and invited famous actors Wang Fengqing and Mei Lanfang to perform in Shanghai. Wang Yaoqing's younger brother Wang Fengqing was a martial arts student at first, and later became an old student. /kloc-at the age of 0/4, he entered Sixi class and then went to Sanqing class. Wang Guifen admired him very much and accepted him as an apprentice. He personally taught him Zhu Shazhi, Take Chengdu and other famous works, and pointed out his plays such as Wen Zhaoguan and Fish hide the sword. Wang Fengqing has a broad and bright voice, full of momentum and profound martial arts skills. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1908), he was elected to the Qing Palace. By the early years of the Republic of China, he was already a famous bearded student in the north and south. Mei Lanfang is just a young man under 20 years old. Decided that Wang Fengqing would grow a beard and hang a top card, with a monthly guarantee of 3,200 yuan; Mei Lanfang hangs two single-corner cards, guaranteed monthly 1800 yuan. In fact, at first, Xu's artistic evaluation of Mei Lanfang was not too high. Yin Bao only offered 1400 yuan, but Wang Fengqing, a helpful teacher, insisted on raising it to 1800 yuan, and said, "If you can't afford this price, then share it equally with 400 yuan in my Yin Bao." Xu Shaoqing listened to his words and reluctantly agreed.
After arriving in Shanghai, Wang Fengqing first led Mei Lanfang to visit friends in the press and literary and art circles, such as Di of The Times, Shi of Shen Bao, Wang of The News, Wu Changshuo, Zhu, Yu Sulu of the literary and art circles. Before performing the sex scene, Yang from the financial department invited Wang Fengqing to sing "Wu Jiapo" at the wedding. Afraid that the fresh head would be robbed by others, Xu refused to agree at first. When people are finished, they agree. The meeting place is in Zhangjia Garden, that is, Bird, also called Weichong Garden, which is located at Nanjing West Road and Taixing Road. The whole garden has elegant scenery and lush flowers and trees. Scholars often gather here gracefully, and exhibitions or performances of China traditional operas and civilized dramas are often held here. The church will be located in a hall in the garden. This is Mei Lanfang's first appearance in Shanghai, which is unusual. However, he has cooperated with Wang Fengqing many times in this play, and he is still familiar with it, so he is not flustered. On that day, the curtain was lifted and the audience was packed. That [Adagio Xipi] and its counterpart [Allegro] are full of colorful sounds. The audience also watched the works very carefully, and the figure of going out of the kiln applauded. The audience is very friendly and enthusiastic about this strange corner. Wang Fengqing's singing is even more popular with the audience. The performance was a great success, and it can be said that the first battle was a success.
1October 4th, 165438+ officially performed in the first phase of Tangui. This theater is located in Daxinjiekou, Sima Road (now Fuzhou Road) in downtown area. On the first day of the sex scene, Mei Lanfang's drama was The Story of the Colorful Building, which was the second from the bottom. He went to the dressing room early, a little nervous, but soon calmed down. When she took the stage, a small gong was played on the stage, and the curtain of inspecting the scene was lifted. Mei Lanfang suddenly felt that all the lights in front of the stage were on at once. When he first set foot on the carpet of this strange stage, he saw a new semi-circular stage, which was far from the old stage. Two pillars blocked the audience's view. Mei Lanfang was filled with joy and excitement at that time. After he finished the introduction, he sat down to read a poem and explain it, followed by eight adagios, which were full. On the colorful floor, singing "Xipi Adagio", turning to [26], "Look at the railing with your hands ..." When singing the chorus "Soldiers, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce are also standing on both sides", Mei Lanfang used a relatively novel singing method, which was warmly applauded by the audience. The audience in Shanghai appreciated the young actor's elegant appearance, novel singing style and proper performance. Mei Lanfang made her debut in Shanghai and became an instant hit. After the play, Xu Shaoqing said to Mei Lanfang with a big smile: "Mr. Mei, the public opinion of the audience is very good to you today." The next day, Yutangchun posted it in Chengdu, and the third day was Wujiapo. The three-day sex scene was hot and sold well. The audience is generally full of praise for the new role, who can sing and do, look and sound, and is not picky.
After singing the three-day sex scene, Xu specially prepared rich dining tables to congratulate Wang and Mei. Xu said many compliments to him. Seeing that Xu's trust in Mei Lanfang has increased, Wang Fengqing made further efforts to recommend: "Boss Xu, pay attention to all corners of the beach. We are all newcomers to Shanghai. Why not let my brother press Taiwan Province once! " Xu quickly went on to say, "As long as your boss Wang is willing to let the play go on, I will certainly do it!" Mei Lanfang is very grateful to Wang Fengqing for his support.
In order to perform the grand finale, Mei Lanfang consulted friends from Beijing, such as Feng Gengguang, Li Shikun, Master Shu and Xu Boming. Mei Lanfang thinks that the old Tsing Yi opera "singing with a silly stomach" is "I'm afraid it can't be suppressed". In order to adapt to the Shanghai audience's appreciation psychology of "paying equal attention to singing and doing, being novel and vivid", it is unanimously advocated to rehearse several Peking Opera blues plays because they look vivid and beautiful. Beijing opera blues, more than a young and middle-aged female general with a stubborn head and a pheasant tail, mainly singing and dancing, and exquisite workmanship.
Mei Lanfang thought it was a good idea, and decided to arrange Woodcut Zhai first, so he asked Mr. Tathagata Qing to arrange it for him. It was officially launched on 165438+ 10/0/6. This is the first time for Mei Lanfang to play the big axis in Shanghai, and it is also the first time for him to perform on stage. Although he is not used to it, it works well. Later, I posted my first book, Rainbow Pass. The performances of "Wang" and "Mei" in Shanghai were originally scheduled for one month, but due to the enthusiasm of the audience, they were asked to perform for another half month. On the last day of farewell performance, Mei Lanfang presented Fenhe Bay. Mei Lanfang's performance in Shanghai was a great success, and Shanghai newspapers published reports and comments one after another. Some newspapers even praised Mei Lanfang for "urging me to be the best in the world" and "being the best in the world".
Mei Lanfang often went to Shanghai after her first successful performance in Shanghai. 19 14 12, the second time I went to Shanghai, I still cooperated with Wang Fengqing. This time, Mei Lanfang's wife Wang Minghua walked with her son Yong Er. I met Zhao, a famous actress in Shanghai. This time, Mei and Wang performed in Dangui No.1 for 34 days, and the repertoires included "Drunken Guifei" and so on. The audience responded more warmly than last time. 19 16 winter, I went to Shanghai for the third time and still cooperated with Wang Fengqing. This time, it was performed on the Tianchan Stage, which was the largest Peking Opera performance venue in Shanghai at that time, and could accommodate more than 3,000 people upstairs and downstairs. They performed in such a big venue for 45 days and were very popular. Only "the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon" ran seven times, and "Daiyu Buried Flowers" was buried five times.