摘要
The great D＇Oyly Carte star John Reed routinely substituted sly references to current politicians and events for the classic Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics he was supposed to be singing. When his audience responded with applause to a particular scene he had performed, he would sometimes tum to them and announce： ＂You liked that, did you？ Let＇s do it again!＂ And he did. Similar liberties in performance of classic scripts have been taken for centuries with Shakespeare and other canonical playwrights. As Andrea Goldman demonstrates to great effect in this marvelous new book, the gap ＂from page to stage＂ was particularly wide, and the innovations particularly significant, in opera performances in Qing Beijing.
The great D＇Oyly Carte star John Reed routinely substituted sly references to current politicians and events for the classic Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics he was supposed to be singing. When his audience responded with applause to a particular scene he had performed, he would sometimes tum to them and announce： ＂You liked that, did you？ Let＇s do it again!＂ And he did. Similar liberties in performance of classic scripts have been taken for centuries with Shakespeare and other canonical playwrights. As Andrea Goldman demonstrates to great effect in this marvelous new book, the gap ＂from page to stage＂ was particularly wide, and the innovations particularly significant, in opera performances in Qing Beijing.
