Historically, the six student classes of Beijing People's Art Institute from 1958 to 1985 were steeped in the fireworks that cannot be learned from academies, inherited the school style of acting without pretense, and supported the people's art stage as well as the film and television fields. Half of the country continues to write the script of "youth talent".
So, on June 12, on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the founding of Beijing People’s Art Institute, Class 85, the last student class in history, and Class 2022, the first performance training class for people in the new era, reunited one by one. On the stage of the Capital Theater, the "Five Tigers and Three Phoenixes" from Class 85 and the "Seven Little Fortunes" from Class 22 held a sharing session called "Classics and Youth".
In this high-quality dialogue, eight students from Class 85, Feng Yuanzheng, Wu Gang, Ding Zhicheng, Yue Xiuqing, Gao Dongping, Wang Gang, Meng Xiu, and Liu Xiaorong, and Liu Chen, Zhou Qingyun, who have just graduated from the 2022 performance student training class, Liu Wenyi, Du Zijun, Song Jianlin, Gong Yuquan and Du Botao, two generations of artists recalled their youth in Beijing People's Art Theater. On one side, they lived in the theater and grew up on the stage, while on the other side, they rubbed ears and temples together from morning to night. Everyone was a teacher, everywhere It’s the classroom, and the spiritual guidance of the “Leading Class” also gives people the confidence to say: At 72 years old, we are still young.
Shang Mengchu used a notebook to record the two-year life of Class 85.
From 15 people to 8 people after repeated screenings, the elimination rate of Renyi 85 student class was nearly 50%. One record was recorded by Shang Mengchu, the teacher of the life class at that time. The hard-cover book helps everyone pick up memory clues from 40 years ago. This hardcover book from the People's Art and Theater Museum is the first time for many people in Class 85 to see or even hear about it.
opened the first page of the notebook. The date on it was September 2, 1985. Regarding what happened on that day, Yue Xiuqing was most impressed by Ding Zhicheng's self-introduction, "My name is Ding Zhicheng. My surname is Ding. I am a person with great ambitions." Aspiration, sincerity, where there is a will, there is a way." Many rehearsal details were clearly recorded in the notebook, "In the acting class on the morning of December 10, Meng Xiu and Wu Gang cut their hair to get closer to the characters. Ding Zhicheng also She wanted to shave her head, but was stopped by the teacher because Zhou Ping still needed hair. "Ding Zhicheng talked about it for a long time, "From a lack of creativity to an increasingly abundant sketch creation, this is due to the change from a day student to a boarding student. Living and eating in the theater, my brothers had nothing to do, so they started discussing who made the best sketch. What impressed me the most was that Wu Gang played a 7-year-old child. Ever since this imagination appeared, our class The material for the sketch gradually began to increase." Yue Xiuqing brought the topic back at the right time, "Talking about head shaving," Ding Zhicheng said, "I want to express that confidence on stage is particularly important." He put Mr. Ying Ruocheng's watermelon hat on his head and acted like Mr. Liu's bald head, but Yue Xiuqing, who played Hu Niu, was happy when he saw him, and the scene was a bit unbearable. So I thought of shaving my head if it didn't work out, but the teacher stopped me and found a suitable headgear. The last page of
's diary contains this text: During the one-year probationary period, you will be based on the stage and will not be allowed to go out to film movies or TV shows. The actor training class ended on July 14, 1987, and the transcript has been sent to Parents, and give a copy to the Political Office. As for this transcript, few people today remember it.
Practicing sword dancing with girls, Wu Gang got the physical examination qualification.
During the exchange of information, Wu Gang first claimed that he did not fall in love with physical fitness classes because he was tough. His wife Yue Xiuqing also revealed it mercilessly, "Every time we do physical training There was another item in the exam that was handstand. The teacher shouted one, two, three, and all the boys got up. Only Wu Gang couldn't get up. Later, he discussed with the teacher and practiced sword dancing with the girls and passed the physical examination. "
The current experimental theater is where Class 85 held classes. The physical education class was held at 8:30 in the morning. The last ones to come were Ding Zhicheng and Gao Dongping. Yue Xiuqing, the girl monitor at that time, was responsible for keeping attendance. "Basically, everyone else came, and they both I came here slowly, but even so, I always recorded my attendance as being on time."Class 85 initially enrolled 15 people, and half of them held various "positions" as committee members and class representatives. However, what impressed everyone the most was that both the vocal class representative and the physical class representative were Gao Dongping. "He is almost like that. The kind of person who can get perfect scores without training his body. "
In contrast to Gao Dongping's self-confidence, Meng Xiu, who later became an instant hit in "Desire", said that she once doubted that she was not qualified to be an actress. "I could walk on the stage and only stick out my tongue. , if sister Yue (Xiuqing)'s sketch is 5 points, then I only have 0 points. In the Peking Opera "The End of the Cabinet" we arranged, Wang Gang had been standing on the stage for a long time, and I just opened my mouth without making a sound. During that time, I was really on the verge of being eliminated, and my internship period was extended for half a year. Feng Yuanzheng and Gao Dongping accompanied me to observe life and make sketches. Sister Yue (Xiuqing) chatted with me whenever she had time, encouraged me, and even invited me to dinner. I think my enlightenment started with Feng Yuanzheng's role as Xiao Ping Foolish Couple. From that moment I understood that no matter what kind of character you create, you must first be yourself. Actors and characters are a kind of soul exchange. It is precisely because of everyone's help that I finally stayed in Beijing People's Art Theatre. "
Yang Lixin taught Feng Yuanzheng to sing with a Peking Opera accent.
Ding Zhicheng was missing from many photos of that year. The reason was that he had two major hobbies at that time, violin and photography. Therefore, many group photos of the class were taken by him. And A dancing photo among those old photos freezes everyone’s youth 40 years ago. Disco dancing was popular in that era. Class 85 caught up with the Mid-Autumn Festival as soon as they entered the theater. Many old artists gathered together to dance, which happened to be A song with a relatively fast tempo was played, and all the students in the student class rushed to dance. It was probably the first time that Class 85 made a collective appearance. From then on, it became a program, and the whole class would rush to dance a piece of graduation music whenever there was an opportunity. At that time, the whole class also went to the photo studio to take a "family portrait"-like graduation photo, for the sake of formality and to spend the remaining class fees.
At that time, the recruitment and training of the student class was the responsibility of the entire school. Everyone in the theater pays attention to these "children" during major events. Dean Feng Yuanzheng even recalled a past incident with Yang Lixin when he was a student living in the theater. At that time, because of the popularity of "Plain Clothes Police", the streets and alleys were busy. Everyone was singing the song "Young Aspirations Don't Say Sorrows". Once, he was singing "Golden Shield, Forged with Blood" at the top of his voice in the corridor. As soon as he opened the door and entered the dormitory, someone knocked on the door: "Classmate, it is noon time now." , everyone is resting, please be quiet." This was Yang Lixin. Feng Yuanzheng quickly said sorry. Yang Lixin turned around and left, but suddenly turned around and said: "Classmate, what you just sang was wrong, it should be Golden Shield..." Several Years later, Feng Yuanzheng learned that Yang Lixin had learned Peking Opera, so he sang with a drawl.
Ding Zhicheng volunteered to act in a sketch that he couldn't perform.
If there were often flashes of inspiration in the first year of sketch training, it was in the second year. In 2017, when everyone’s creativity was almost exhausted, Ding Zhicheng’s hilarious sketch left a deep impression on Yue Xiuqing: “At that time, doing sketches every day was a headache for all of us, and it felt like observing life was already over. There isn’t that much content left. One day when it was time to hand in the sketch assignment, Ding Zhicheng was particularly brave and was the first to say, "I'll do it." The name of the sketch was "Rainy Night". He played a painter, who was originally very romantic. He put up his drawing board, and then everyone quietly watched the development of the plot, thinking about what new thing would be presented next. But he drew for several minutes. While everyone was staring at him and guessing what was going to happen, he said to us, "Teacher, I can't draw anymore," and the skit was over. "Forty years later, Ding Zhicheng said meaningfully, "Now that I think about it, that is also a performance style. "
Everyone has different preferences for theaters, such as food and atmosphere. Only Wu Gang said, "I like the smell of the backstage of people's art." In his opinion, the taste of people's art is actually because of that kind of atmosphere. A taste formed by a very rigorous yet very open and happy creative spiritual atmosphere.From the rehearsal hall on the first floor to the stage and then to the rehearsal hall on the third floor, generations of gentlemen have rehearsed, created and performed here, leaving countless classics. All the hardships of creation are here. As soon as you open the door of the rehearsal hall , we can all feel the creative atmosphere of the gentlemen, it can never get out, this is the smell!
Text/Beijing Youth Daily Reporter Guo Jia
Photography/Beijing Youth Daily Reporter Chai Cheng
Editor/Cui Wei
