Sun Honglei： Musicals are the cleanest place in my heart.
The musical Cat Who Wants to Become a Man was performed 20 years ago by the first musical class in China, the Grade 95 Musical Major of the Central Academy of Drama. Today, 20 years later, this work, which opens the professional performance of China musical, will be staged in poly theatre on June 23rd.
Sun Honglei, a famous film and television actor who once performed this drama, told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter when he visited the class yesterday: "Musical is the cleanest place in my heart. It is very quiet and accompanies me every day."
"Drama performance should be sincere"
Yesterday afternoon, Sun Honglei, his former teachers, Professor Niu Xinci and Professor Liangbo Wang, and his classmate Qu Ning came to the rehearsal field and carefully watched the rehearsals of the actors. Seeing the actors performing the roles they played in those years, Sun Honglei was filled with emotion and held back her tears several times. Sun Honglei was surprised by the young actors’ good foundation and energetic performance. When the actors sang the theme song "Song of Friendship", Sun Honglei couldn’t help but echo it.
Later, Sun Honglei made a serious comment on the performances of the actors. He said, "The Cat Who Wants to Become a Man is the soul of the 95 Musical Class of the Central Academy of Drama. I am surprised that you can perform like this in a short time."
Later, he gave his own opinions and suggestions to each actor’s performance. He said: "It is most important to be sincere and truthful in theatrical performances, so be sincere in rehearsals and in studying roles at ordinary times. To play a cat is to observe the shape of the cat, and to play love is to really like each other. If the police chief Schwager likes Gillian, he must really like it, but not on the surface. "
The "old saying" of the Central Academy of Drama
In the interview, Sun Honglei said: "The rehearsal of" Cats Who Want to Be Human "was a revolutionary change in my life. I became an actor. Before that, I always wanted to be an actor, a singer, a host and a dancer. I found that what I like is performance. This play makes me a real actor and makes me an actor who can be recognized by everyone in the circle. "
At that time, there was an old saying circulating in the Central Academy of Drama: the first thing that the performance department should occupy is the classroom of the performance department; The second is to occupy the "black box" of the performance department, and the third is to occupy the experimental theater of Chinese opera. If you occupy that theater, you will "occupy" China. You occupy the small theater and the big theater, and you have a chance to rush out of Asia.
Sun Honglei especially believed in these words. He honestly went from the rehearsal field to the "black box" and then to the experimental theater. Seriously perform musicals every time. When I heard that Cat Who Wants to Become a Man was going to be rearranged, Sun Honglei said that on the one hand, she was worried that they would ruin the play, on the other hand, she particularly expected them to have a better breakthrough. "I was scared because I had seen too many people who ruined the play, but this time the director of the play was my classmate and the producer was my colleague when I worked in the Japanese Four Seasons Troupe. I think they have a conscience, so I must come to rehearsal in person before I know if they are. Today is one of the few happiest days in my life. "
The pressure from the Japanese team
Speaking of the impression when rehearsing this work at the Central Academy of Drama, Sun Honglei said, "I remember the pressure from the Japanese that impressed me the most. I have never seen such a rigorous team since the Japanese came. We have many things that are inferior to the Japanese in musicals. After all, we started late, but we have the advantage of being a latecomer. The uncle who played the role of Schwager has played this role in the Japanese Four Seasons Troupe for 11 years. How can we surpass it in just two months? How to talk to others about PK? If I want to start from myself, I must at least draw a tie, because you are the performance department of the Central Academy of Drama, and you should be good. "
Sun Honglei couldn’t sleep every day at that time, thinking about the role of a recruit a type. At the premiere in Japan, Japanese actors Ichiro Kawano and Taita Asaki called him to the front and said, "You played very well, and in some ways you surpassed us Japanese actors." Sun Honglei told the reporter of Beiqing Daily: "The efforts of that year gave me a shot in the arm. Nothing is a curse, nothing is a myth. As long as I work hard, I have a chance. "
Call for the establishment of musical talent guarantee mechanism
Asked about Sun Honglei’s views on the cultivation of musical talents in China today, he said: "I think there is a break in the cultivation of musical talents now."
A few days ago, Sun Honglei was with the younger brothers and sisters who studied musicals in the Dance Academy. They said, "Brother Hong Lei, we have nowhere to go. We have musicals every day, even if the money we earn is not enough for us to rent a house, it is only a few hundred dollars."
Sun Honglei was very emotional when he heard this. He wanted to appeal to colleges and universities not to go with the flow, but to support what they should support, and to preserve sophisticated art. "Musical talents are trained without receiving units, and there is no mechanism. Where do children go after graduation? What unit can receive them? Even if it is a private or national academy, this is something that we should consider carefully in the development of our musical drama. "
As for when he will return to the musical stage, he said: "There must be good plays, especially musical comedies like Cat Who Wants to Become a Man, and of course, there are plays like Don Quixote and Les Miserables. If there are such good plays, I think it is possible to return to the stage."
Text/reporter Lun Bing
Photography/reporter Cui Jun