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Wang Pansheng
Huju performer of male roles and founder of the Wang school, of which the trade says nine in ten male singers follow it; best known for 'Zhichao Reads the Letter'
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.
Also known as Real name Huang Pansheng
- Roles
- Stage Performers
Wang Pansheng, originally Huang Pansheng (the two surnames sound alike in Shanghainese and a misprint stuck), was born near Suzhou in 1923. At fifteen he joined his sister, the performer Xiao Xiaoyuezhen, in Shanghai, became a pupil of Chen Xiushan in 1937 and spent many years with Xiao Wenbin's Wenbin troupe, becoming one of its leading actors from 1945. His fluent, finely shaded singing, always built from the character, became the Wang school of male Huju singing, so widely followed that the trade says 'nine in ten male singers are Wang'. His signature pieces are 'Zhichao Reads the Letter' from Bi luo huang quan and 'Liu Zhiyuan Beats the Watch' from New Li Sanniang, and he starred in modern plays such as Huangpu Tide and By the Jinsha River. He died in Shanghai on 14 September 2016.
Life and times
Dates 1923 CE–2016 CE