Top of the big era

This female singer is a charming sister who looks familiar to Zhou Buqi. Her name is Bai Xue. I remember that she had acted in many TV series, but I really didn't know that she was a singer.

In fact, she was really popular in the music industry, and she even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage many times in the 1990s.

Normally speaking, if you want to sing, you must let Zhou Buqi choose. Whatever he wants to sing, she will sing along with him. After all, one is a layman and the other is a professional.

However, Ms. Bai Xue took the initiative to send out an invitation and wanted to sing a classic excerpt from the Yue Opera "Dream of Red Mansions" "Sister Lin Falls from the Sky".

This drama is so famous.

It has even transcended the realm of theater and entered the world of pop music.

Zhou Buqi can really sing a few lines.

Then start singing.

I thought it was just fun, everyone took turns singing, got together, and relaxed happily. After all, at the level of Zhou Buqi, Lao Zhang, and Lao Ding, it is already difficult to pursue simple happiness like ordinary people.

Unexpectedly, everyone was shocked when he opened his voice.

"Sister Lin Falls from the Sky"...

As soon as Bai Xue opened her voice, Zhou Buqi got goosebumps all over her body. This voice, this pitch, this articulation, this singing style... How could this be a singer? Not to mention the female singers who have reached the seventh or eighth level now, even the top singers are not at this level!

This is so professional!

Zhou Buqi wanted to start a project to promote traditional domestic dramas, and Yue opera was one of them, so he knew it quite well. He went to the Magic City a few days ago and watched a Yue opera performance with Wen Zhixia and Shi Jinglin.

When Bai Xue sings "Sister Lin Falls from the Sky," does it sound like it's not much worse than those famous Yue opera singers? !

Depend on!

Zhou Buqi understood it immediately.

She is a professional!

The difficulty of drama is much greater than that of pop songs. This cannot be learned by becoming a monk at all, it has to be a child's skill!

The audience next to me also know the goods.

Bai Xue sang two or three lines at the beginning and already won the house's approval. Of course there was constant applause when Zhou Buqi sang, but the applause was mainly for encouragement.

In terms of singing alone, the two are not on the same level at all.

Zhou Buqi is a little embarrassed.

oops!

I misunderstood Lao Zhang.

I thought he brought two female companions here to show off his good luck with women. Especially this Ms. Bai Xue took the initiative to invite him to sing, which made Zhou Buqi have some misconceptions, thinking that she was here to seduce.

Especially with her plump figure, round face and almond-shaped eyes, she looked particularly elegant wearing a beige long-sleeved shirt and a white canvas waist-length skirt.

Zhou Buqi even wanted to grit his teeth but refused.

I thought this was Lao Zhang’s deliberate arrangement.

Once you open your voice, you will understand everything.

This is really Lao Zhang's wish, or rather his little request.

After singing the song "Sister Lin Falls from the Sky", Bai Xue wanted to ask Zhou Buqi to sing another song, but he was really embarrassed and continued to duet with him, and there was no way he could match it.

After the applause ended, Zhou Buqi asked: "Miss Bai, are you a professional Shaoxing opera actor?"

Bai Xue pursed her lips and said with a smile: "My family is engaged in theater work. I have been singing since I was a child. Later, I was admitted to the Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe and sang Yue Opera for twenty years."

Zhou Buqi gave a thumbs up, "No wonder it's so solid. With your voice... you left the Yue Opera industry, which is a huge loss to the Yue Opera industry."

This is no exaggeration. Bai Xue was the brightest star of hope in the Yue opera industry back then.

Bai Xue sighed, "So what? You have to live!"

Zhou Buqi nodded, "The salary is very small?"

Bai Xue sighed and said: "At that time, it only cost a few dozen yuan a month. I had to go to other places to perform frequently, and I also had to find teachers to study...it was simply not enough."

"Then you changed your career to become a singer?"

"Well, later I participated in a karaoke competition and won first place. Many people said that I had the potential to be a singer, and... and my external conditions were pretty good, so I was no longer in the Yue Opera Troupe. "

"What a pity."

Zhou Buqi felt helpless about this.

Although the theater troupe is also a public institution, and once it is established, it can be regarded as an iron rice bowl, but the wages are too low, the system is aging, and it is still the same kind of big pot system.

After many well-known theater actors perform in other places, the performance fees cannot go to the actors, but will be given directly to the theater troupe. The troupe will follow the rules of the troupe and pay the actors a travel fee instead of a performance fee. This is too little, less than one hundred.

It would be fine if he were just an ordinary actor. He would have a work unit and a staff, which would be enough to lead a middle-class life without worries about food and clothing.

But it won't work for some big actors.

Actors of different levels have different living expenses.

Once you become famous, your living expenses must match your fame, but your income cannot keep up. As a result, many outstanding theater actors have lost their jobs and become actors or singers across industries.

What’s more…

There is a large troupe in Peking Opera. In the late 1980s, it went to San Francisco in the United States to promote Peking Opera and performed a model play "Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom"...

As a result, after the play was over, more than 30 Peking opera actors in the troupe ran away.

They all stay in the United States and will not come back, and they don’t want their property and relatives left in the country.

The scandal of "Go to San Francisco" was left behind in the industry.

Boss Ma firmly opposes Zhou Buqi's market-oriented operation to be distinguished from Peking Opera. There are also some factors like this. Don't expose other people's scars.

Bai Xue chuckled and said, "It's not a complete departure. In the past few years, I have released many albums and several Yue opera records. It can be regarded as popularizing Yue opera to a certain extent."

"Oh?" Zhou Buqi was a little surprised, "Can Miss Bai return to the Yue Opera stage?"

Bai Xue shook her head gently, "There's no problem with my singing technique, but my figure can't keep up. I haven't practiced martial arts for many years, and my hands, eyes, body, and steps are no longer good."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "You can fool a layman like me after all, right?"

Bai Xue smiled and said nothing.

Zhou Buqi said: "It's a coincidence. I'm currently working on a project to promote traditional drama. Kun Opera and Yue Opera are the first types of drama to be introduced. I plan to set up a folk drama club called Zhixing Drama Club, which will work with the official troupe. It’s different, we take the route of market-oriented operation.”

Bai Xue's eyes suddenly filled up and released their brilliance.

This is the main purpose of her coming today.

She and Lao Zhang have no sexual relationship. They are just ordinary friends. They only met after she participated in several Sohu Entertainment programs.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhang immediately became the noble person in her life and wanted to introduce her to the more distinguished Mr. Zhou.

Zhou Buqi had already guessed that it was Lao Zhang's plan behind this, who wanted to find a new job for this outdated female singer who had been reduced to the seventh or eighth level in the music world.

It just so happens that she is a Yue Opera actor.

Bai Xue is a singer, so of course she has no face to speak of.

But Zhou Buqi had to take care of Lao Zhang's face and couldn't embarrass him.

Zhou Buqi said: "Traditional drama has been out of date, which is a pity. Think about how magnificent the Yue opera was in Shanghai back then? It can't be done now. It has been far away from the market for too long. The official operational capabilities really don't dare I agree. The most important reason why "The Peony Pavilion for Youth" has done so well is because it is a privately-led project."

Bai Xue's eyes were full of expectation, and she said softly: "The Peony Pavilion for Youth has indeed injected new vitality into Kun Opera. It is not an exaggeration to say that it saved Kun Opera."

"Zhixing Opera Club is going to follow this route." Zhou Buqi nodded, "Especially when I sang the song "Sister Lin Falls from the Sky" with you, I was very touched. I think we should imitate Kun Opera "" In the form of "Youth Version of Peony Pavilion", we adapted and launched the Yue Opera version of "Youth Version of Dream of Red Mansions". It should be performed by young actors and actresses, and the traditional cross-dressing should be used as little as possible."

In traditional drama, the most commonly used one is cross-dressing.

In fact, due to the ethical restrictions of Confucian tradition, men and women cannot be intimate...so men and women cannot perform on the same stage.

In public performances of drama, male actors are the main actors. For female roles, male actors have to perform in reverse roles. The most famous one is of course the Peking Opera master Mr. Mei Lanfang.

However, there are differences between private meetings.

For example, the plot in the novel "A Dream of Red Mansions".

The Jia family wanted to open a theater troupe to perform for the noble ladies in the family. This play is Kun Opera, an excerpt from Kun Opera. But when it comes to acting for the noble ladies in the back house, male actors are not allowed, and foreign men are not allowed to enter the back house.

So Jia Lian went south to the south of the Yangtze River to purchase girls. The theater troupes in the Jia Mansion were all composed of girls. When male roles needed to be played, girls would fill in the roles.

Yue Opera only appeared during the Republic of China.

At that time, Kun Opera was in decline, and Yue Opera took advantage of this momentum to emerge. In order to stand out and cater to the fashion and new elements of Shanghai, Yue Opera changed the tradition of all male actors in traditional dramas to all female actors.

At the same time, there is also a boundary between men and women, so male roles on Yue Opera stage are all played by actresses.

In Kun Opera, male actors play female roles, while in Yue Opera, female actors play male roles...

They are essentially the same.

Times have changed.

Men and women sharing the stage has been accepted by the public, and there is no need to abide by this set of bad traditions. Many celebrities in the theater industry still adhere to this tradition of cross-dressing performances, which are considered cultural treasures.

Zhou Buqi doesn't think so.

That is just a deformed strategy derived from Confucian ethics. Now it is a new era, and the little feet are no longer bound.

"The Peony Pavilion for Youth" is the best proof that letting boys play male roles and girls playing female roles is a drama that is in line with the trend.

Only in this way can traditional culture be carried forward in modern society.

Boss Ma firmly opposes Zhou Buqi's attempt to reform Peking Opera. After all, Hua Dan is the core force in Peking Opera and is considered to be the greatest cultural charm in Peking Opera.

Zhou Buqi accepted his suggestion and planned to start with southern dramas.

Kun Opera and Yue Opera are the top choices.

Bai Xue stood up and bowed to Zhou Buqi. She didn't know whether it was a show of true feelings or a pretense. The light was a bit dim and it was hard to see clearly. I just thought her voice was quite touching, "Mr. Zhou, it's really Thank you so much! As a former Yue Opera actor, I appreciate your support for Yue Opera."