Ningbo Opera

[royba]

Can anyone tell me who wrote the Ningbo Opera about Chou Wenbin (周文宾) who was considered one of the four famed scholars of Jiangnan

It is a farcical opera where Chou Wenbin claims to be the best looking one of the four scholars. To prove this he says he will disguise himself as a woman and bets Chu Chih-shan that he would not recognize him dressed as a woman among the crowd at the Lantern Festival celebration. Tiger Wang, a general's son, sees Chou in his disguise and is mesmerized by what he believes is a beautiful woman. He kidnaps Chou to be his bride and arranges for him to stay at his sister Xiuying's chamber for the night in preparation fot the wedding. Chou has always been an ardent admirer of Hsiuying, who is very beautiful, and when they are alone reveals to her his true identity. The lovers pledge their love. Wang has no choice but to agree to the marriage because if a single man and a single woman spend one night together, whether they had sex or not, they were generally to have committed the act, and according to custom, there was no option for the two to marry, much to Tiger Wang’s annoyance.

I have put this information in my book “10,000 Chinese Numbers,” (Published by TuDragons Press, and available from www.lulu.com) but I do not know who wrote the opera and when. Please help me.

[skylee]

You might find this information useful -> 《王老虎抢亲》

越剧《王老虎抢亲》取材于曲词话本《四杰传》。远书四后册，写唐伯虎、祝枝山、文徵明、周文宾、四大才子的故事。它在民间流传颇广，家喻户晓。因而，旧时不少艺人将它改编成说唱、戏曲等各种形式的本子，加以演出，尤其是弹词，每演可连续数月或经年之久，足见其内容之丰富、故事之繁长。据说很多地方戏也有以它为题材的传统剧目。越剧《王老虎抢亲》是根据“周文宾扮女看灯，王老虎见美抢亲，秀英女楼台许亲，祝枝山花厅合姻”，这一节故事编写的。

原书这一段故事描写极为简略，短短的仅二三百字，越剧本是以它为基础，从人物到剧情都作了极大的充实、丰富、虚构，是一部旧故事，新创作。决定搞《王老虎抢亲》是在浙江杭州，动笔写剧本是在西子湖畔。由于它是大喜剧，颇受观众喜爱，故全国各地剧团纷纷搬演，北京曲剧院也曾移植过此剧。有人说：有越剧团的地方就有《王老虎抢亲》。此话不假，一个剧目40余年久演不衰，这在越剧史上实属罕见。

1958年2月1日，由合作越剧团首演于瑞金剧场。红枫编剧，李卓云导演，毕春芳饰周文宾、戚雅仙饰王秀英、潘笑笑饰王天豹、陈金莲饰祝枝山。演出受到观众欢迎，成为剧团保留剧目。该剧故事源于弹词《三笑》，越剧男班时期即有演出。新编本突出了王老虎因抢亲所造成的一连串被动可笑的场面，讽刺和抨击了他的丑恶行为。其中“错认”、“戏豹”、“寄闺”、“赔妹”等场，具有强烈的喜剧效果。

[laolee]

This is probably of no help but just last month I watched a 1957 Cantonese comedic opera version of the story, Tiger Wong Seizes the Bride, featuring Leung Sing-Bo/梁醒波 as Tiger, Ho Fei Fan/何非凡 as Chow and Tang Bik-Wan/鄧碧雲 as Sau-Ying. The librettist for that was the famous Tong Tik-Sang/唐滌生 many of whose works were performed byYam Kim-Fai and Pak Suet-Sin.

Tong Tik-Sang