“小茅威涛”蔡浙飞

玫玫

一出戏开演前，最热闹的莫过于后台。

2016年12月19日，位于杭州教工路的浙江小百花越剧团九五剧场的后台，狭窄的过道塞满了一排排的戏服道具，每一个画着柳叶眉的姑娘像跑接力赛一样来回穿梭。在这个中国最著名的女子越剧团，有美丽的花旦，更有英俊的小生。

演出的“男一号”蔡浙飞正气定神闲地坐在二号化妆间的化妆台前，外卖打包的面条早就糊成了一团，可是她还是没有空吃上一口。这场演出，是蔡浙飞作为第一批省属舞台艺术拔尖人才培养项目的成果汇报演出——《吴越王》的展演。对于1993年就进入浙江小百花越剧团工作的蔡浙飞来说，这个专场，是总结，也是新的起点。

“小茅威涛”与“小百花”的因缘际会

时间回放到20多年前，蔡浙飞还在新昌调腔剧团，演的是大靠的武生。但因为喜欢越剧，曾学过一年。而一次汇演，蔡浙飞的命运被彻底改变——“当时我的扮相被文化厅的领导发现，怎么这么像茅老师。”

那时茅威涛已经红遍整个越剧界，蔡浙飞也经常在广播和磁带里听她的唱段，“只是从没想过我会和她像。”那一年，才18周岁的蔡浙飞加入了她向往已久的浙江小百花越剧团，一干就是20多年。“有时候茅老师都分不清我和她，一次她在看我们团里贴出来的演出照片，也恍惚地问我，怎么不记得有这一站的演出，后来才发现原来照片中的人是我。”

因演唱流派和舞台扮相酷似茅威涛，蔡浙飞也被戏迷亲切称为“小茅威涛”。原生代版《西厢记》封箱之后，张生的接力棒，就传到了蔡浙飞手里。而《西厢记》，也让蔡浙飞在越剧舞台一举成名。1994年在中国越剧节的舞台上上，蔡浙飞和颜恝一起搭档出演《西厢记》。“当时茅老师因为要主持，就由我来表演，她来配唱，没想到大家一下子关注到我。”

不过茅威涛一开始却对蔡浙飞“非常像她”这一点很反感。“我担心她有依赖性，一辈子大树底下好乘凉了。没想到她是一个特别朴实的演员，该跑龙套就跑龙套，该下乡就下乡演出，时至今日，她还是朴素得像刚来杭州的那个新昌小镇姑娘。”茅威涛评价说。

为《吴越王》一改小生戏路，苦练话剧念白

《吴越王》的演出后台，蔡浙飞一直安静地坐着。贴鬓角戴头套对于戏曲演员来说，绝对是一项“酷刑”——为了防止头套掉下来，绑头套的绳子一般会紧紧地把眉毛都吊高，最后鬓角部分再用胶水粘上。卸妆时，如果不注意，撕拉一下，疼得不行。“这次还算好的。有段时间我们演清宫戏《步步惊心》，我的鬓角都被剃掉了，丑得不行。”蔡浙飞淡淡地说。

一般戏曲演员的个人专场，都是用几个折子戏来配，而蔡浙飞这次，却是真真正正演一场为她量身打造的大戏，并且还是2015国家艺术基金资助项目。只是当初看到《吴越王》的本子，蔡浙飞的第一反应竟然是拒绝。“以前演的都是俊秀的小生，这次的吴越王，不仅要演孩子的爹，而且年龄跨度要到四五十岁了，对于我来说挑战太大。”

更令蔡浙飞头疼的是，导演郭小男要求大家去掉传统越剧的腔调，用话剧的念白去念。“我的声音太清脆了，一点也不沉稳。”蔡浙飞说，那段时间整夜整夜地睡不着，甚至在年初时，给茅威涛发了一条长长的微信，要退出《吴越王》。面对学生的不自信，茅威涛并没有安慰她，而是甩出狠狠的告誡：“如果你退出，你的艺术生涯就彻底终止了，因为你放弃了自己！”

后来同时在排的《寇流兰与杜丽娘》，邵燕因为椎间盘突出，寇流兰的死敌奥菲迪乌斯临时让蔡浙飞顶替。这次的表演让她渐渐找回了自信。“于是我看了大量话剧和电视剧的视频，借鉴真正中年男演员的念白，终于找到了当国王的感觉。”

（本文摄影 姜胜利）

New Yueju Opera Star Shines

By Mei Mei

Cai Zhefei， a Yueju Opera artist， has eventually become a big star of the opera that originated in eastern Zhejiang over one hundred years ago and now is the second biggest opera genre after Peking Opera. Her career as a Yueju Opera artist started in 1993 at the age of 18.

Back then she was a young martial art artist at Xinchang Diaoqiang Opera Troupe. She appeared on the stage as a warrior dressed up with small and colorful flags over her shoulders. She had taken a one-year course for Yueju Opera performance. She did not know her life was to change forever. Someone with the provinces cultural authorities spotted her exact resemblance with Mao Weitao， the best woman who acts as a man in Yueju Opera plays. Nobody had ever noticed the lookalike before. Cai Zhefei was astonished to learn that she looked like Mao Weitao on the stage.

Mao Weitao herself sometimes gets confused by the resemblance. One day she was looking at some photos taken during the troupes road show across the province. Mao saw herself in some photos and wondered why she didnt have any memory of the road show. Later Mao found that it was Cai Zhefei in these photos.

The leaders who favored Cai Zhefei had their reasons. Mao Weitao is a huge success and a legend of Yueju Opera. For many with the cultural authorities and the troupe administration， Cai Zhefei could be another Mao Weitao. So they got her into Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yueju Opera Troupe and trained her as a future star.

Mao Weitao didnt like the idea at first. She dreaded that the young artist would take the appearance for granted and ignore hard work and dedication. Her misgivings evaporated eventually. Cai Zhefei works hard and she doesnt have any arrogance about the big star status. She does her assignments diligently. Mao finds the young artist as honest and simple as she was on the first day she came from Xinchang.

In 1994， Cai Zhefei made her name overnight at China Yueju Opera Festival. She and Yan Jia appeared in a new edition of one of the best plays among the Yueju Opera repertoire. Audiences wowed at her appearance and performance. Fans find her endearing and consider her as Mao Weitao junior.

Over years， Cai Zhefei has grown up as an artist. She is now a key player of the troupe.

On December 19， 2016， she appeared as the lead man in in Hangzhou. The Yueju Opera play was part of a big show designed to let the market see how young opera talents across the province had grown up. The provinces project for cultivating young opera talents has been going on for years.

was a big challenge to Cai. Her first reaction after reading the script in 2015 was impossible. She didnt want the role. The play tells the story of the king over a period of four decades. She was to appear as a middle-aged man and a father of children in the play. Moreover， all the lines must be spoken in mandarin as if in a drama， as demanded by Director Guo Xiaonan. She didnt have the confidence in her voice， which is too young and unsteady for the role. She worried so much that she lost sleep for many nights. She texted her lack of confidence to Mao Weitao and asked to back out of the cast. Mao replied that backing out meant giving up and giving up meant the end of her career.

Cai worked hard by watching the videos of dramas and television series. Eventually she found a way to sound like a middle-aged man on the stage. Through this artistic ordeal， Cai has come to understand the career is her own and suffering for art is her destiny no matter whether she looks like someone else.