The Historical Evolution of Xidan Theater

Hafei opened in September 1930, and its name was taken from the English word "Happy". Because the operator misspelled it as "happy", it was misspelled as "Hafey".

Halfi rented the East Courtyard of Fengtian Club, where a building covering an area of 400 square meters was specially built. The audience was divided into upper and lower floors, and the first semi-circular opera stage in Beijing was built. The stage and the audience are all lit up, and the service facilities such as the audience lounge and canteen are also set up. At that time, it was the most westernized and advanced theater in Beijing.

Hafey was once the only theater in western Beijing, so it was one of the most popular theaters in Beijing from its opening to the outbreak of the 1937 Lugouqiao incident. Hafei mainly performs Peking Opera, interspersed with other operas to cater to the audience's tastes. Many famous pear garden artists, such as Ma, Zhou, Mei Lanfang, Cheng, Shang Xiaoyun, Xun Huisheng,,, Diamond, Bai Yu Shuang, etc. , has a long or short cooperative relationship with Hafei. In addition to traditional opera programs, Hafei often performs modern stage arts such as drama, song and dance. At that time, the famous Yizhi New Drama Club and Shanghai Yue Ming Song and Dance Troupe performed in Hafei, and most of the performances were new dramas, musicals and song and dance programs reflecting the spirit of science and democracy, which caused a sensation in the society.

After 1937, as the situation became turbulent, Hafei's operation became increasingly difficult. At the beginning of 1937, two theaters were opened in Xidan, and Hafei Grand Theatre was officially transformed into Hafei Ruiyuan Tea House on 1938, and Hafei Grand Theatre retired from the historical stage. 193865438+1October 6th, Ruiyuan Tea House officially started to operate the variety show of Quyi, and changed from a theater to Ruiyuan of the tea house, still continuing Hafei's "famous artist route". Operators have extensive contacts with well-known figures and storytelling artists in the field of Quyi, including such as; Dan Xian artists Gao Deming and Tang; Drum artists, Fang Hongbao, Xiao Caiwu, crosstalk artists Xiao Mo, Zhang Fool, and famous Henan artists such as pendant, ventriloquism and double reed also performed for Ruiyuan all the year round. In addition to Quyi performances, acrobatic performances including magic, martial arts and acrobatics were also staged in Ruiyuan.

Ruiyuan's folk art programs are famous for their diverse forms, rich contents, short programs and low fares. In addition, Ruiyuan has excellent facilities, so it is very popular with Peiping citizens, which not only retains Hafei's original audience to a certain extent, but also attracts many bottom audiences. Ruiyuan used to be very popular for a while.

However, with the deepening of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, under the rule of the Japanese puppet government, Beijing's social life has become more and more turbulent, and fewer and fewer citizens have leisure and spare money to enjoy cultural performances. By 1940, Ruiyuan had completely closed down, and Haerfei-Ruiyuan, which Hao Jinchuan had operated for nearly ten years, had completely disappeared. After Ruiyuan 1940 closed down, Tianjin businessman Yang Yizhi rented Ruiyuan and turned it into a big bright cinema, which specially showed British and American popular movies, including products of American 20th century Fox Company, MGM Company and other big companies, and successively released films such as The Wizard of Oz, Heroes on Earth, Robinson Crusoe, Spring of the Ancient City and so on.

194110 On February 7, the Pearl Harbor incident broke out, and Japan officially declared war on the United States and Britain. Cinema in Beijing was banned from showing films made by Britain and the United States, and only films made by Germany and Italy were allowed to be shown in Japan. Due to the resistance of the citizens, the operation of the cinema was struggling, and Daguangming even pawned the film copy to pay the employees' wages, and finally had to close down.

Soon Yang Chaohua, a Japanese from Taiwan Province Province, took over Daguangming and 1943 reopened. After the opening, Da Guangming will run both movies and dramas. 1944, he even sold a movie projector to specialize in drama. After entering 1945, the Axis camp was defeated, and Yang Chaohua gave up the bright future and fled back to Japan.

After Japan announced its surrender, Yang Yizhi returned to the light, restarted the film screening industry and continued to show films mainly in Britain and the United States. He introduced the latest films by sharing them with film companies, and established relationships with 20th century film companies such as Fox, Paramount, MGM, Radio and Television, Universal, America, Warner Bros. and Columbi, and successively screened Suez Canal, The Masked Warrior, A Blood Battle at Sea, The Pacific, Zhou Braun, The Romantic Prince and Two.

After 1949, Daguangming was preserved through public-private partnership, and the released films gradually turned into revolutionary films co-produced by China and the Soviet Union. During this period, films such as White-haired Girl, Spring in a Small Town, Fireworks Children Turn Over, The Wind and Cloud of the City, The Secret History of the Qing Palace, The Wind and Cloud of the South of the Yangtze River, Businessmen and Ladies have been broadcast so far.

The period from 1945 to 1952 is a golden period of brilliance, with constant new films, high attendance and stable income. Until 1954, the relevant administrative departments decided to transform Da Guangming into a theater for stage performance, and Da Guangming ended his cinema era. 1954, China Opera Research Institute took over Daguangming Cinema and transformed it into Xidan Theater suitable for stage performance. China Pingju Theatre, China Peking Opera Theatre, China Theatre Academy, Horse Troupe, Xun Huisheng Theatre, Beijing Peking Opera Theatre Group I, Beijing Peking Opera Theatre Group IV, Beijing Quyi Group III and Northern Kunqu Opera Troupe have performed here successively. The famous dramas performed are: Pingju Qin Xianglian. In addition, the films Li Shizhen, Flying Tigers and Two Explorers were shown.

1959, Shanghai Yue Opera Troupe was transferred to Beijing to establish Beijing Yue Opera Troupe, and Xidan Theatre was placed under the management of Beijing Yue Opera Troupe. The performance of Yue Opera in Xidan Theatre was widely welcomed by Beijing residents, but because the actors from Shanghai could not adapt to the climate in Beijing, Beijing Yue Opera Troupe was dissolved on 196 1 and Xidan Theatre was placed under the management of Beijing Quyi Troupe.

Since then, until 1985, Xidan Theater has been mainly performing folk art programs, taking into account film screening. Famous Quyi artists such as Wei Xikui, Gao Fengshan, Guan Xueceng, Luo Rongshou and Zhao Zhenduo have all performed here, and in addition, they have shown films such as Five Golden Flowers, Red Guards of Honghu Lake and The Name of Revolution.

From 65438 to 0985, Beijing Quyi Troupe was divided into two performance groups: Beijing Quyi Troupe and Beijing Quyi Troupe, and Xidan Theatre was placed under the management of Beijing Quyi Troupe. Since then, with the decline of stage performances, Xidan Theatre has mainly turned to showing movies, and at the same time opened up sideline businesses such as video game halls and video halls.

1994 Xidan Theater was demolished due to the overall planning adjustment of Xidan area. The Xidan Theater, which was originally planned to be rebuilt on 1998, opened to welcome guests, but it was not until the winter of 2003 that the "No.4 Site of Xixi Project", which was consistent with the planning of Xidan Theater, was officially started. The planned Xidan Theater is located on the third floor of the project, with 1500 theaters.