Recently, Deyunshe has made new progress in settling in Shanghai! On April 30, a huge poster "When Deyun Club Meets Shanghai" was hung up at the People's Theater on Sichuan North Road. Many fans of Deyun Club and passing citizens checked in to take pictures.
In this issue of News Morning Post·Zhou Zao's "Shanghai Living Room" program, we conducted an in-depth interview on this matter.
reporters noticed that the People’s Theater that Deyun Society is about to settle in this time is an old theater with a long history, located on Sichuan North Road.
The relevant historical situation of the Mass Theater is introduced in the "Modern Shanghai Movie Map" published by Shanghai University Press in August 2021. This book is one of the "Shanghai Literature Series·Cinema Series" and selects movies from the late Qing Dynasty to New China. Various historical materials related to movies and movie theaters in modern newspapers and periodicals before the founding of the People's Republic of China.
As the editor of the book, Sun Ying, a Shanghai-style literature researcher and deputy research librarian of the Minhang District Library, told reporters that the predecessor of the People's Theater was the Guangdong Grand Theater, which had been renamed many times, and the name of the "People's Theater" was not established until 1968. Only used.
The Guangdong Grand Theater was built in 1928, now at No. 1552 Sichuan North Road. It is a four-story building divided into a main hall and a balcony. Opened on January 31, 1931. On New Year's Day in 1932, the Guangdong Grand Theater specially invited ten famous Cantonese actors and actresses, including Ruan Lingyu and Huang Baiying, to sing the opera "Love Beauty" with Cantonese dialogue, which was very popular among the Cantonese people living in Hongkou. With this as its starting point, the Guangdong Grand Theater became the second Cantonese opera performance center in Shanghai after the Guangdong Stage.
At the end of 1937, the Guangdong Grand Theater was operated by the Japanese and was renamed Hongkou Chinese Grand Theater to distinguish it from the Chinese Grand Theater in Nanshi. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, it was taken over by the Central Trust Bureau and operated by He Kee Company. On November 1, it was renamed Hongguang Theater.
It has been used as an auditorium by the army since April 1951. In January 1952, it was transferred from the Municipal Cultural Bureau to the East China District Company of China Film Company and renamed Heping Cinema. After the East China District Company was dissolved in September of the same year, it was returned to the Municipal Cultural Bureau and renamed People's Cinema.
After the first major overhaul from April to December 1953, it was renamed the Mass Theater, specializing in performing various local operas and showing movies. From 1954 to 1958, the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe, the Pearl River Cantonese Opera Troupe, the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe, the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe No. 2, and the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Circle Visiting Troupe came to Shanghai. The performances of famous Cantonese opera artists such as Xue Juexian, Ma Shitsang, and Hong Xiannu caused a sensation in Shanghai. superior. In 1968, it was renamed People's Theater.
Xu Zhidong is a photographer and a native of Hongkou. For this Hongkou veteran, the People's Theater has memories of his youth:
At that time, the theater not only screened movies, but also hosted various concerts and performances by government organizations. We have an impression of the surrounding shops. On the north side is the Xilinmen Candy Shop. The candies sold include the familiar Mickey Mouse toffee, cocoa cake, Ruyi toffee, etc. Across the street from the theater, there are Yilin Color Photography Club, Qiujiang Flower Mat Shop, Sewing Machine Repair Station, Qunying Silk Shop, etc. Yilin Shop also deals with film, and its one-stop machine for enlarging five-inch color photos is very popular.
In the spring of 1986, Xu Zhidong's unit held a chorus competition at the People's Theater:
The chorus conductor instructed us to stand on the stage and look straight ahead. We were not allowed to look to both sides, and we were not allowed to move our hands vertically, because there were a row of spotlights on the stage. The brush illuminated everyone clearly, and the audience could clearly see every move of every chorus member on the stage. We sang "On the Field of Hope" and won second place.
In March this year, Xu Zhidong noticed that Deyun Society was going to open branches in Shanghai and other places to establish a chain of small theaters. "It is said that when Guo Degang was choosing a location in Shanghai, he had a special liking for the People's Theater in Hongkou District. He believed that it had a cultural heritage of drama and was full of the history and humanity of the South."
Early last year, when Guo Degang was performing in Shanghai, he revealed that he planned to open a branch in Shanghai. During a live broadcast some time ago, Guo Degang responded to netizens’ inquiries and expected that the Shanghai branch will open on New Year’s Day next year.
Xu Zhidong went to Sichuan North Road on May 1st and saw a huge poster hanging out at the People's Theater. He said:
Deyun Society's settlement in Sichuan North Road is indeed a bright spot. If the People's Theater can really become Deyun Society's small theater in Shanghai, then We rode on the clouds and entered the familiar theater to experience the joy of childhood in that era.
As a Shanghainese, it is easier for me to accept one-legged comedy and comedy. However, in a metropolis that embraces all rivers, crosstalk also has its place. I hope Deyun Society will be established and make great achievements.
Regarding Deyun Society’s upcoming move to the People’s Theater this year, Sun Ying said personally: “The People’s Theater once set off a craze for Cantonese opera performances in Shanghai. I wonder if Guo Degang’s Deyun Society can inherit this success and make Beijing-style crosstalk popular in Shanghai. "For a while?"
Hongkou resident Xiao Xu was taking pictures across the road. She told reporters that she had gone to Beijing and Tianjin to watch Deyun Club's performances:
Because I am a "Deyun Girl", I still pay more attention to Deyun Club. information. Deyun Club does not have a small theater in Shanghai, but now it can open a branch in Shanghai. I believe that many fans of Deyun Club, including cross talk fans, are quite happy. I hope Deyunshe can bring new traffic to Sichuan North Road.
