Performers › Dramatists and Directors
Chen Xianzhang
Yu opera writer and director from Zhengzhou, Henan, husband of Chang Xiangyu, who co-adapted the Yu opera Hua Mulan with Wang Jingzhong.
In a workshop, one person sits with their back turned at a long table, pointing a thin rod at a model stage with painted scenery; scripts bound in cord and a brush pot lie in the foreground, a ring of white dots marks the floor, and two drums and hanging cloths stand at the right.
Chen Xianzhang was born in Zhengzhou, Henan, on 16 September 1917 and as a young man attended the Henan Provincial Luoyang Normal School, where he began acting on stage. Husband of the Yu opera star Chang Xiangyu, he founded the Xiangyu drama school and the Xiangyu troupe with her and took part in writing or staging almost every classic of her Chang school. With Wang Jingzhong he adapted the Peking opera Mulan Joins the Army into the Yu opera Hua Mulan, starring Chang Xiangyu; it won a script award at the first national opera festival and was filmed by the Changchun Film Studio in 1956. His other adaptations include Kao Hong, Da Ji Zhuang and Po Hongzhou. He died in July 2000.
Life and times
- 1917Born
Republican Era
Modern Era - 2000Died
Works
Stage · Plays2- Hua MulanFirst staged 1951Yu opera adapted by Chen Xianzhang from the Peking opera Mulan Joins the Army, a signature role of Chang Xiangyu
- HongniangDate unknown (Chang Xiangyu made her name in Kaifeng with the role early in her career)From The Romance of the Western Chamber: Chang Xiangyu's Hongniang, sung with eastern Henan tunes, made her famous