Performers › Stage Performers
Wang Shaofang
Nanjing-born Huangmei opera actor who began in Peking opera, switched to Huangmei opera in 1950 and played Dong Yong opposite Yan Fengying in the film The Fairy Couple
Backstage of a theatre troupe, an open trunk spills embroidered red and blue robes, one worked with a phoenix, beneath a jewelled headdress with long plumes; a mirror stand, a stool and a row of painted drums stand beside it, with a red curtain hanging at the right.
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Wang Shaofang, whose given name was first written with a different character for fang, was born in Nanjing in 1920 into a Peking opera family and trained as a boy in Shanghai in laosheng roles. Stranded in Anqing during the war with Japan, he performed on mixed bills of Peking and Huangmei opera, and in 1950 he turned to Huangmei opera for good, joining the Anhui Provincial Huangmei Opera Troupe in 1953, where he played mainly young male leads and also older men. His Dong Yong in The Fairy Couple won an award at the 1954 East China opera festival, and in 1955 he and Yan Fengying starred in the film version; they also appeared together in the film The Female Consort Prince. His other regular pieces included Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai and The White Snake. He died in July 1986.
Life and times
Dates 1920 CE–1986 CE