Chapter 4 4. Temperament of old partner

The manager in the backstage was in a hurry, but couldn't find Mei Yutian for a while, and the gongs and drums of "Qiong Lin Banquet" had already sounded, so they had to find an "official" Huqin to deal with it first, and Lao Tan had no choice.Just make do with it.When the first "Ask the Woodcutter" was about to end, Mei Yutian finally arrived. He entered through the main entrance of the theater as usual. Today he was wearing a brand-new gray silk gown and a maroon satin mandarin jacket with tufted flowers. All smiles.As soon as the audience saw his figure, they cheered immediately: "Fatty Mei is here." Mei Yutian walked onto the stage from the aisle next to the main hall, sat down on the stage, and the servant handed over the huqin, and Mei Yutian first adjusted the strings and set the tune.In the second scene of "Nao Fu", when Lao Tan came on, Mei Yutian played a string, and the audience immediately applauded.

Lao Tan knew his old partner's temper very well, so he didn't take it seriously, and believed in his own charm. He sang Erhuang Yuanban "I was originally a poor scholar..." The audience was intoxicated by his vigorous and mellow voice. In 1909, Tan Xinpei was 63 years old, and his daughter (Xia Yuerun's wife) went to Beijing to plead several times, and agreed to sing on the new stage in Nanshi for 20 days.This time Lao Tan's most popular play is "Search the Orphan and Rescue the Orphan", with Pan Yueqiao as Gongsun Chujiu and Lao Tan as Cheng Ying.Pan Yueqiao intentionally "don't show signs of it". In the scene of "The Court", when Cheng Ying whipped Gongsun Chujiu, Pan Yueqiao first came with a "carp turning over", and then a "butt dust", which was extremely hot.Of course Lao Tan is not a weak person, he sang with full of emotion, and the listeners were all moved. When he left the theatre, he could still feel the lingering sound in his ears, lingering endlessly.

Huang Chujiu's new stage invites Tan Xinpei, which is his fifth visit to Shanghai. This time Huang Chujiu also asked someone to talk about it, and promised some generous conditions, and Tan Xinpei finally agreed.Shanghai received the news and made all preparations.On November 7, 1912, which is also the 29th day of the ninth lunar month in the lunar calendar, when Tan Xinpei and his party arrived in Shanghai by ship, they declared and published a huge advertisement for the new stage. Tan Xinpei" under the headline, there is a paragraph like this: Tan Jiaotian has a great reputation.In the former Qing Dynasty, people called it Tanbeile, and its nobility can be seen.In terms of his qualifications, there is no predecessor in the theater world, and the beauty of his tone makes him respected as the king of the theater world, and he is truly worthy of shame.In front of the stage, people were sent to the capital to hire people, which made Tian fearful of traveling far and refused to agree.After several months of negotiations, Shihe agreed.Yesterday I received a telegram from Beijing, took the Longhe ship and headed south, arrived in Shenyang on the 29th, rested for a few days, and went on stage at an auspicious time...

The advertisement also introduced that the supporting actors accompanying Tan Xinpei to the south this time are all top-notch, such as "King of Xiaosheng" De Ru, "King of Purity" Jin Xiushan, "King of Tsing Yi" Sun Yiyun, etc.Jin Xiushan's son, Jin Shaoshan, also came. His title is "No. 1 Jingjiao", Wen Rongshou is "No. 1 Lao Dan", and Ci Ruiquan is "No. 1 Harlequin".Below the name of each supporting role, there is another section of small characters, introducing his artistic achievements.For example, Jin Xiushan is: "The most popular in and out of Beijing, the voice is loud and powerful, and the mountains change color for it" and so on.