Chapter 5 Mei Meng broke up-2

It was already October 1929 when Mei Lanfang completed all the preparations for going to the United States. In November, the Mei Opera Troupe officially announced its trip to the United States.As soon as the news spread, it immediately received enthusiastic responses from insiders, laymen and people from all walks of life: Li Shi once invited the business and academic circles to hold a public banquet at the World Club on Qihuamen Street, Beiping, and expressed his encouragement for Mei Lanfang to go to the United States; the American University Alumni Association held a farewell ceremony in Tianjin At the meeting, consuls and gentry businessmen from various countries participated in the meeting. Cui Tingxian, the mayor of Tianjin, and Yan Junren, a member of the alumni association, delivered speeches at the meeting. Everyone should help"; the Hebei Provincial Government held a banquet, and more than 50 people including government members, the Beiping Municipal Government Committee, Li Shizeng, Zhou Zuomin, Li Fuying, and Chu Qingbo attended. I’m afraid I’ll fail if I go out, but as far as I’m concerned, as long as I’m able to go out, I’m a success, and I don’t care about failure!” Liu Tianhua, Zheng Yingsun, Yang Zhongzi, Han Quanhua and dozens of professors and scholars also organized a farewell party, placing high hopes on Mei Lanfang .

Various farewell parties were held. At the beginning of January 1930, the Mei Opera Troupe left Beijing for Shanghai.Members include: Cast: Mei Lanfang, Wang Shaoting (old student), Liu Lianrong (painted face), Zhu Guifang (Wu Dan), Yao Yufu, Uncle Li Fei (Second Dan and Secretary). Band: Xu Lanyuan (huqin), Sun Huiting (yueqin), Ma Baoming (playing the flute), Huo Wenyuan (sanxian), Ma Baozhu (playing the sheng), He Zengfu (drum), Tang Xiguang (small gong), Luo Wentian (big gong). Makeup: Han Peiting. Box: Lei Jun, Li Deshun. Advisor: Qi Rushan. Translation: Zhang Yujiu. General affairs: Gong Zuolin.

Accountant: Huang Zimei. Due to the small number of staff, many people have to take on several roles. For example, Xu Lanyuan, the piano player, also plays the role of the teacher in "The Fisherman"; Teachers Han Peiting and Lei Jun sometimes have to play tricks. In this list, there is neither Fu Zhifang nor Meng Xiaodong.However, the Mei Opera Troupe set off from Beiping, first went to Tianjin, and then went to Shanghai by boat. Fu Zhifang was always by Mei Lanfang's side.In other words, Fu Zhifang sent Mei Lanfang to Shanghai.After Mei Lanfang boarded the "Queen of Canada" from Shanghai, Fu Zhifang returned to Peiping.This means that Meng Xiaodong did not see her off, and she stayed in Beiping alone.

Mei Lanfang's preparations before going to the United States can be said to be meticulous and sufficient, but there are inevitably omissions.This omission is almost fatal, and that is the issue of "performance repertoire". At the end of January 1930, Mei Lanfang led a delegation to the United States. On February 14, at the invitation of Wu Chaoshu, Chinese Minister to the United States, Mei Lanfang took the lead in attending a performance reception specially arranged by Minister Wu in Washington.Those who attended the reception that night included other government officials except President Hoover, ambassadors from various countries, local officials and celebrities, and almost all the highest-level leaders in the United States could go.President Hoover, who was working on his grandfather, even regretfully sent someone to ask Wu Chaoshu, hoping that Mei Lanfang could stay in Washington for another two days, waiting for him to come back.

In such a high-profile first performance after going to the United States, Mei Lanfang's repertoire is "Qingwen Tearing the Fan".For some reason, Mei Lanfang had a premonition during the performance that this scene was really difficult for Americans to understand.This story took place on the Duanyang Festival, but foreign countries do not have this festival, so foreigners naturally have no way of understanding the series of details that happened.Sure enough, Zhang Pengchun said bluntly after watching the drama: "They don't understand." At this time, Mei Lanfang realized that the choice of repertoire is very important, and only people like Zhang Pengchun who are proficient in the differences between Chinese and Western dramas and who are familiar with the psychology of Western audiences can accurately choose repertoires.At the same time, Zhang Pengchun's rich knowledge of modern drama, Western drama performance formulas and years of experience in directing dramas made Mei Lanfang, who is good at learning from others, feel that he cannot lack Qi Rushan, who has a profound background in traditional drama, and also needs Zhang Pengchun. Especially in a foreign country, facing a completely unfamiliar culture and audience, Zhang Pengchun seems to have a greater role.

So, at Mei Lanfang's request, Zhang Pengchun joined in.First of all, he reselected the repertoire, thinking that foreigners want to see traditional things in Chinese dramas, so they must choose stories that they can understand and contain Chinese traditions. At the same time, because foreigners cannot understand Chinese, So we have to choose those plays that do and play more than sing and read.Under this premise, Mei Lanfang's repertoire in the United States later focused on such repertoires as "Thorn Tiger", "Fenhe Bend", "Drunken Concubine", "Fishing and Killing Family", as well as the "Sword of the Sword" in the play. dance".Sure enough, "Thorn Tiger" is the most popular among Americans.

Secondly, Zhang Pengchun not only assisted Mei Lanfang as a consultant, but also took on the responsibility of director.Strictly speaking, Zhang Pengchun was the first director of Peking Opera in the true sense, and the Peking Opera director system was thus established.This is actually the smartest part of Mei Lanfang, another proof that he is good at accepting new things, and another manifestation of his willingness to do good things.In this sense, Mei Lanfang's success is inevitable. On February 17, Mei Lanfang performed publicly at the Forty-ninth Street Theater in New York.According to director Zhang Pengchun's deployment, the sequence of performances is: before the performance, Zhang Pengchun came on stage in a tuxedo and gave a general explanation in English, explaining the organization, characteristics, style and meaning of all the actions of the Chinese drama.Then Ms. Yang Xiu, an overseas Chinese translator invited by the troupe, introduced and explained the plot in English.Then, Mei Lanfang made his official debut.Considering that Americans have a strong sense of time, Zhang Pengchun strictly limited the time, including explanations, introductions, and the performance time of each scene. The entire performance will never exceed two hours.Accurate in time, uncommon even in American theaters.

At the beginning, Zhang Pengchun built the first bridge between Mei Lanfang and the "China Institute", which led to Mei Lanfang's visit to the United States.Now, he has built a second bridge between Mei Lanfang and American audiences, thereby shortening the differences between China and the West, and helping American audiences understand Mei Lanfang's plays.After understanding the plot, the audience sees the gorgeous Chinese red satin and Hunan embroidery curtain, hears the clear and pleasant oriental orchestral music, and sees the "Oriental Beauty" in gorgeous colorful clothes, taking soft steps and twisting. Their slender waists swayed with ever-changing gestures, accompanied by melodious singing voices, filled with incomparable beauty and nobility. They were shocked: there are such graceful music, moving dances and touching tears in distant China. s story.Therefore, what they can give is endless applause and cheers.

It can be said that Mei Lanfang's first performance in the United States was a great success, which can be seen from the fact that he had to call the curtain many times after each play.After the last "Thorn Tiger" ended, he called the curtain call as many as 15 times, which is also rare in China.At first he came to the stage in costume, bowed down and said "Wanfu".After he took off his makeup, the applause from the audience continued, so he had no choice but to go out and bow again in a long robe and mandarin jacket.When the audience found out that the soft-spoken and graceful beauty was indeed a man, they became even more crazy.