The Morning News reporter just learned from the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe that Liu Yilong, a national first-class actor of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, died at 14 o'clock on December 13, 2023 at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital at the age of 83.
Liu Yilong was born in Wuhan, and in 1953, when he was still a teenager, Liu Yilong went to Shanghai to play at his mother-in-law's house, and happened to meet the Shanghai Opera School to recruit the first Kunqu Opera class. After being admitted, Liu Yilong studied Xiaosheng, Wusheng, Huamian, and played Lao Dan, and finally fell into the ugly line. Under the dedicated teachings of Kunchou Taidou Hua Chuanhao, Wang Chuansong and Zhou Chuancang, and under the cultivation of Yu Zhenfei, the principal of Shanghai Opera School, Liu Yilong became a famous ugly artist, and was praised as "Kuntan Qing Ugly" by Chen Congzhou, a master of garden art.
Liu Yilong performed in the pear orchard on the sea.
In the early 60s of the 20th century, Liu Yilong won the play "Down the Mountain".1960 Shanghai YMCA Outstanding Performance AwardCaptured aliveThe 2nd Shanghai Theatre Festival Outstanding Performance Award and Corolla Award. He played the role of Gao Lishi in "The Palace of Eternal Life" and wonThe 1st Shanghai Magnolia Theatre Performing Arts Supporting Actor AwardobtainedHonorary Performance Award at the first China Kunqu Opera Festival. In 1993, he participated in the Spring Festival Gala opera sketch "Ugly Fighting for Spring".
Liu Yilong has created many characters loved by the audience, such as Lou Arat, Zhu Bajie in "Monkey King Three Fights White Bone Spirit", Gao Lishi in "The Palace of Eternal Life", Hu Tu in "The Dry Well Case", Ximen Qing in "Pan Jinlian", etc.
The famous Kunqu opera drama "Fifteen Runs" was once called "a play to save a drama", Ji Zhenhua played the role of Suzhou prefect Guo Zhong, disguised as a fortune teller, attracting the murderer Lou Arat, played by Liu Yilong, to come to measure the word and ask the good luck. In the play, Guo Zhong teased Lou Arat's heart like a cat catching a mouse, and every muscle on Liu Yilong's face seemed to "speak". In 1978, the two co-starred in "Fifteen Runs".In Shanghai, it has created an unprecedented grand occasion of 38 consecutive days of performances and full houses.
Liu Yilong played Lou Arat's role in "Fifteen Runs".
Liu Yilong played Xian Yuji in "Dog Cave".
Liu Yilong played Ben Wu in "Down the Mountain".
Liu Yilong played Zhang Wenyuan in "Borrowing Tea".
Liu Yilong played Lu Fengxuan in "Drunken Soap".
If you don't have a strong love and hatred for right and wrong, you will definitely not be able to play a clown. Liu Yilong thinks that like Lou Arat, the little monk in "Descending the Mountain", and Tang Zhixian in "Seven Sesame Officials", why are they popular and loved by the audience? It is because "the harlequin is not ugly, the beauty is in it". The audience often says that the villain has artistic beauty, that is, when creating an ugly image, the ugly things are more distinct, and the ugly souls hidden under the mask of "beauty" are completely exposed. For some characters with shortcomings, the sarcasm of them should be mastered well, and the humor on the outside and the bitterness on the inside should be unified.
Liu Yilong has both civil and military skills, pretending to be a ** woman, full of fun, enriching the Kunchou language reading, and creating the original Kunchou Chuanbai, Yuebai, Wuhan Bai and other local language characteristics. He is either playing a little monk, or a big eunuch, or an old Taoist aunt, or an ugly woman, all of them are full of drama.
Liu Yilong with students.
Liu Yilong has cultivated a large number of outstanding harlequin actors, and many dramas across the country have his students.
Gu Haohao, head of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and Kunqu Opera performance artist, revealed in an interview with a reporter from the Morning News that she had just bid farewell to Mr. Liu in front of the hospital bed in the afternoon and was very sad. Gu Hao recalled that he had taken Mr. Liu's class when he was a student in the 90s of the last century, and he was a strict teacher, but he treated his students very warmly.
She told reporters that even in his later years, Mr. Liu will still go all out every time he takes the stage and is meticulous about art. In recent years, he has entered the age of 80+, even if it is inconvenient to go on stage again, he is still concerned about inheritance, regards his home as a classroom, and continues to lecture to younger students. His departure made the Kunqu opera people reluctant and the audience reluctant.
Liu Yilong with his classmates and Yu Zhenfei Photo by Zu Zhongren.
This afternoon, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe released an obituary:
According to Liu Yilong's wishes, the funeral was simple.
Mr. Liu goes all the way!
|News Morning Post Comprehensive and Thoughtful App Reporter Qiu Lihua, Shangguan News.