Author: Han Xuan
The famous musician Xiao Ke has celebrated his 50th birthday this year. He gave himself a theater birthday gift, and also a gift for Xiaoke Theater to celebrate its 10th anniversary of operation-the musical “Under the Great Bell of the West”. Over the years, Xiaoke has composed familiar songs such as “Because of Love”, “Waiting for You Love Me” and “Returning”. The Beijing Winter Olympics is coming soon, and his composition “Beijing Welcomes You” is sung again. Recently, the reporter interviewed Xiao Ke exclusively, listening to him telling creative stories in authentic Beijing dialect and telling his love for Beijing.
Xiao Ke’s performance in the musical “Under the Great Bell”.
Operate Xiaoke Theater independently by word of mouth for ten years
This time, “Under the Great Clock” is staged. Xiao Ke pioneered a new attempt to “watch the show first, then buy the tickets”. The audience chooses seats through a small program and pays zero yuan. After watching the show, you can decide how much it is worth. How much to pay is completely voluntary.
“What I do may cause some harm to my colleagues, but I want to try it.” Xiaoke felt that the current announcements of many movies and dramas are deceptive. The details are shown, and the editing of the promotional film is completely another thing.” So he changed the way of buying tickets. This round of activities will only be carried out among the old audience in Xiaoke Theater, and plans to gradually open it to the public audience in the future.
After many years of operation, Xiaoke Theater did not consume a lot of time and energy on publicity, did not hold many media meetings, and almost did not send tickets for publicity. For many years, it has been operated by word-of-mouth, and only Xiaoke’s personal style is played here. Xiaoke Theater has accumulated a large number of audiences for the creation of musicals. Before the epidemic, there were about 260 performances in Xiaoke Theater each year. Musicals such as “Because of Love”, “Waiting for You Love Me” and “The Million Promise” were staged in multiple rounds, and there were still audiences.
Xiao Ke frankly said that he can successfully run Xiaoke Theater because he has certain capital, “This theater is my own”, and the performance of the play does not need to be interfered by intermediate links and channels. At the same time, he does not take a penny from the theater, but takes the creation of musicals as a sustenance of his feelings and spirit. The theater has a streamlined operation team, and the box office is linked to everyone’s performance. If there is profit, it will be fed back to the employees, and the rest will be invested in the theater. This rule was set by Xiao Ke when the theater first made a profit, and many years have passed in a flash.
Creating for Beijing is particularly natural and exciting
Recently, Xiao Ke participated in the recording of the variety show “The Most Beautiful Central Axis”. His “Bell and Drum Tower” and “Swift Back to Zhengyang” created on the show were liked by many audiences because of the strong Beijing flavor. Under the leadership of the program group, musicians such as Xiao Ke and Hao Yun visited the landmark landscapes on the central axis such as the Bell and Drum Tower and Zhengyang Gate. Xiaoke always visits during the day, creates at night, and performs on the next day, which is not small for creators.
In fact, this is the creative rhythm that Xiaoke himself requested. Originally, the program team hoped that Xiao Ke would write the songs for singing Bell and Drum Tower and Zhengyangmen first, and then film and perform, “But I really don’t know how to write these songs. You said He Yong wrote “The Bell and Drum Tower” so well. I can’t write it.” Therefore, he actively asked to follow the film before creating it. This means that the creation time is only the same evening, and a certain amount of time must be reserved for the band to rehearse before the performance can be performed smoothly the next day.
“In fact, it’s not difficult. When you go shopping during the day, you will have the inspiration. I almost think of the lyrics and melody. I just sort it out when I go home.” Xiao Ke’s most impressive experience was when he boarded the Zhengyang Gate Tower, invited by the program group. Not only did the experts of ”introduce the history of Zhengyangmen, they also let them see the Beijing Swifts living in Zhengyangmen through surveillance. A little Swift with its wings spread out and wanted to fly out, but after several struggles, he did not dare to fly out of the attic. “It turns out that both the emperor and the common people left from Zhengyangmen, and when they returned, including Beijing Swift, they also flew away from Zhengyangmen.” Xiaoke suddenly had inspiration in his heart and directly wrote “Zhengyangmen.” Go, Zhengyangmengui” lyrics.
For Xiaoke, the creation of Beijing is particularly natural, “This is really nothing, and I didn’t write it on purpose, it’s just enthusiasm.” When writing other songs, he has to find feelings and think, but he has to write about his hometown, Beijing, without thinking too much. many.
Write a song that everyone likes here
Speaking of Xiaoke’s works for Beijing, “Beijing Welcomes You” cannot be bypassed. From 2008 to today, the Beijing Winter Olympics will begin immediately, and many netizens will sing this song, which has become a memory of more than one generation.
Speaking of the process of composing the song, Xiao Ke recalled that around 2008, many people created songs with the goal of internationalization. I hope that foreigners will feel it. “But what I think is: your daughter-in-law doesn’t like to listen to this song, how can it be made by foreigners, and your parents don’t like it. Why do foreigners like it? It doesn’t make sense.” Xiao Ke felt, a song To achieve internationalization, first of all, we should let the closest people like it, “Emotions spread out layer by layer, and it is impossible to airdrop it. I just want to write a song about our home, our doorway, and our place. A song that everyone likes.”
Xiao Ke used to write the lyrics first and then compose the music in his own works, but this song is a collaboration with the lyrics writer, he first wrote the lyrics according to his own feeling, and then composed the music according to the rhythm and style of the lyrics. It took Xiaoke several days to write and revise, and this song is the longest time he has composed. When the score was finished, Xiao Ke gave it to the lyricist to refill the lyrics, and it finally became what it is now like in “Welcome to Beijing”. When referring to the original lyrics of the “Xiao Ke version” of “Welcome to Beijing”, he waved his hand again and again: “I can’t find it. I haven’t known where it went for more than ten years.”
The melody of “Welcome to Beijing” is melodious and kind. Xiao Ke said that his source of inspiration was actually the cry of selling candied haws in the old Beijing Beicheng. It was the cries he had particularly liked since he was a child, because it has the strongest musicality and the most melodic. feel. “Its voice is very melodious and it drags for a long time, so that the people in the deep house compound can not only hear it, but also have time to come out.” But Xiao Ke did not directly put this melody in the song, but used it. It has a melodious feeling, “I want to yell the candied haws to attract people living in the deep house compound, then “Welcome to Beijing” can summon all friends from all over the world.” (Han Xuan)
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责编：刘冰雅 ]
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