Traditional Chinese opera, or Xiqu, is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century, during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Early forms of Chinese theater are simple; however, over time, various art forms such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costume and make-up art, as well as literary art forms were incorporated to form traditional Chinese opera. Performers had to practice for many years to gain an understanding of the roles. Exaggerated features and colors made it easier for the audience to identify the roles portrayed.
The Shanghai Grand Theatre is a complex located at the intersection of Renmin Avenue and Huangpi North Road in the northern part of the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. The building houses the Shanghai Opera House and other performing companies.
Peking opera, or Beijing opera, is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The art form is also preserved in Taiwan, where it is also known as Guójù. It has also spread to other regions such as the United States and Japan.
Theatre of China has a long and complex history. Traditional Chinese theatre, generally in the form of Chinese opera, is musical in nature. Chinese theatre can trace its origin back a few millennia to ancient China, but the Chinese opera started to develop in the 12th century. Western forms like the spoken drama, western-style opera, and ballet did not arrive in China until the 20th century.
The Shanghai Oriental Art Center, abbreviated SHOAC, is one of the leading performance and cultural facilities in Shanghai. The five interconnected hemispherical halls or "petals" are shaped to resemble a butterfly orchid from above. They comprise the Entrance Hall, the Concert Hall, the Opera Hall, the Performance Hall, and the Exhibition Hall. The high-tech ceiling changes color during the night to reflect the nature of the performances inside. Located off Century Avenue in Pudong, the SHOAC was opened with a New Year's Eve concert in 2004 and officially opened on July 1, 2005.
Beijing People's Art Theatre (北京人民艺术剧院/北京人民藝術劇院) is a theatre company that was founded in June 1952 by drama master Cao Yu. Since its founding, the company has produced nearly 300 dramas of different styles, from classic Chinese themes to adaptations of Molière. The theater company is under the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and is based in the Capital Theatre in Beijing.
Madame White Snake is an opera with music by Zhou Long and libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs, published by Oxford University Press. Awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music, it was premiered on Feb. 26, 2010, by Opera Boston at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. It is based on the Legend of the White Snake and was created by Jacobs as a gift to her now late husband. The Pulitzer Committee described the opera as, "a deeply expressive opera that draws on a Chinese folk tale to blend the musical traditions of the East and the West." Zhou stated, "I have been working very hard to blend the East and the West for years." The opera was performed, in English, in Beijing in October 2010. In China Zhou's 2010 English-language opera shares the same title as the traditional Beijing opera version, Legend of the White Snake, Báishézhuàn, but is distinguished by the term "geju" rather than "jingju".
Chinese contemporary classical opera is a musical art form drawing on western opera traditions - distinct from modern developments of traditional Chinese opera.
The China National Opera House (CNOH) or China Central Opera (中央歌剧院) is a State-run opera company based in Beijing, China, and under the Chinese Ministry of Culture. CNOH consists of an opera troupe, a choir, a symphony orchestra and a stagecraft, costume and scenery departments. It is affiliated, through common direction under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with the Shanghai Opera House company and other geju companies around China.
The Shanghai Yue Opera Group is a theatre in Shanghai, China, founded in 1950 and dedicated to Yue opera.
Shanghai Opera House is the official government-funded western-style opera company of Shanghai, China, and the resident opera company at the new Shanghai Grand Theatre. Although the term "Opera House" is often applied to the building, both in English and Chinese texts, officially the building is not an opera house and the term "Shanghai Opera House" properly applies only to the performing company, not the building, as is also true for its senior sister company, the China National Opera House (CNOH) in Beijing. The reason for the distinction is found in that the Chinese character Yuan (院) applies primarily to a school or institute or dramatic troupe rather than the building in which a school, institute or dramatic company resides.
Yu Kuizhi is a Peking opera performer of Hui Chinese ethnicity. He plays the role of elderly men (laosheng) in Peking Opera.
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre is a professional theatrical company based in Shanghai, China, founded on January 23, 1995 after the merger of Shanghai's two largest theatres, the Shanghai People's Art Theatre (上海人民艺术剧院) and the Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe (上海青年话剧团). Its founders are Xia Yan, Huang Zuolin and Xiong Foxi. Currently, its contracted actors include Michael Chen, Ryan Cheng, Xu Zheng and Ma Yili.
Li Shuzhen, better known by her stage name Li Yuru and also known as Li Xueying, was a Chinese opera singer and actress. Descended from Manchu nobility, she is remembered as "one of the great Beijing Opera performers" and played an important role in the acceptance of female singers in female roles (dan). Amid the Cultural Revolution, she was imprisoned from 1966 until the early 1970s. In 1979, she married Cao Yu, one of the most important 20th-century Chinese dramatists, and, following China's opening up under Deng Xiaoping, she ended her life respected as one of the few surviving masters of the dan roles.
Li Shengsu is a Chinese Peking opera singer-actress who plays Dan roles. She began performing traditional Chinese opera from a young age and is a student of Mei Baojiu and other famous opera performers. She is widely considered a Peking opera superstar and has many renown performances. Currently, Li Shengsu is the director of Troupe One of China National Peking Opera Company. Li also holds positions in other organizations as well, including being a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She has received multiple awards and recognition for her performance in Peking opera.
Shi Yihong, known as Shi Min before 2002, is a Chinese Peking opera singer-actress who plays Dan roles. A Plum Blossom Prize winner, Shi Yihong is considered a Peking opera superstar who not only excels in both vocal and acrobatic roles, but is always experimenting and expanding her repertoire despite resistance from conservative elements. Shi Yihong is a member of the Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company, but she also established her own production company in 2016.
Liu Housheng was a Chinese theatre director, critic, scholar, and playwright. As Vice President of the China Theatre Association, he co-founded the Plum Blossom Award in 1983. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Theater Awards in 2009.
Yan Huizhu was an ethnic Mongolian classical Chinese opera singer who performed in the jingju and kunqu genres. In 1946, she received high acclaim for her performance in Shengsi hen in Beijing, becoming known as the "Queen of Beijing Opera". In 1957, she served as vice-president of the School of Traditional Operas in Shanghai and toured in Europe. Denounced under the Cultural Revolution, in the night of 10 September 1966 she committed suicide after the Red Guards had ransacked her home and accused her of being a counter revolutionary.
The Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, formerly known as the Peking Opera Theater Company of Beijing, also known as the Beijing Peking Opera Company, is a theater company based in Beijing, and the largest jingju performing group in China. Its main venue is the Chang'an Grand Theater, and productions are often aired nationally on CCTV-11. Unestablished performers also hone their skills in smaller theaters.
Wang Yaoqing was a Chinese actor and singer noted for playing the role of a virtuous adult woman, or qingyi, the most important role in Peking opera. He was from Qingjiangpu District, Huai'an in eastern Jiangsu Province.
