Zhao Benshan 赵本山

北京前门，刘老根大舞台，坐在记者面前的赵本山滔滔不绝，表情丰富，两脚不时搭在一起。如今的他已是拥有9家剧场、企业年演出收入过亿元的民营文化企业家。除了“小品王”的称谓外，他还多了一个响当当的名头——“本山传媒董事长”。
In the Liu Laogen Grand Stage, one of his theaters in Qianmen of Beijing, Zhao Benshan sat in from of me, talking on and on graphically with abundant expressions. His two ankles stayed across each other. Today, he is an entrepreneur of private culture enterprises possessing nine theaters with annual revenue of more than 100 million yuan from performance. Besides the title of “king of comedy,” he also has another glorious title ---- Chairman of the Board of Directors of Benshan Media.
刘老根大舞台的意外诞生
Unexpected Establishment of Liu Laogen Grand Stage
在酝酿3年之后，刘老根大舞台挺进京城，高调入主前门阳平会馆，完成了本山传媒打造“喜剧王国”的关键一跃。赵本山回忆说，自从登上春晚的舞台，他就和二人转脱了钩，其实那些年二人转已经发生了很大变化。赵本山对记者说，“那时候二人转的名声并不好，一进二人转剧场，好像是做了什么见不得人的事，捂着脸不敢露身份”。要改变这种状况，必须要为这门拥有300年历史的艺术正名。
After three years of preparation, Liu Laogen Grand Stage moved to Beijing and entered Pingyang Assembly Hall in high profile, a key move of Benshan Media in its efforts of establishing a “comedy kingdom.” After performed in CCTV Spring Festival Gala, recalled Zhao Benshan, he had severed his relations with sing-and-dance duet. Actually, sing-and-dance duet has changed greatly in the previous years. Zhao Benshan said, “At that time, the sing-and-dance duet had a bad reputation. When someone went to see the performance, they didn’t want other people to know it, as if they did something shameful.” To change the situation, efforts should be made to rehabilitate the performance art with a history of 300 years.
2001年，赵本山举办“赵本山杯”二人转大奖赛，杜绝粗口和低俗内容。自此，赵本山开始广收门徒。2003年，赵本山租下位于沈阳中街的大舞台剧场，创建“刘老根大舞台”，全国首家二人转主题剧场成立。
In 2001, Zhao Benshan held a Zhao Benshan Cup Sing-and-Dance Duet Contest and no vulgar performance was allowed. After that, Zhao Benshan began to recruit apprentices. In 2003, he rented a theater in Zhongjie of Shenyang and created his Liu Laogen Grand Stage. This is the first theater with a theme of sing-and-dance duet in China.
赵本山回忆说，“开始整整赔了一年的钱。当时沈阳很多人对二人转印象也不好。”后来赵本山提出绿色二人转，慢慢地，观众越来越多，口口相传，刘老根大舞台有了口碑，如今已成为沈阳旅游的一块金字招牌。
Zhao Benshan recalled, “In the first year, we just operated at a loss because at that time, sing-and-dance duet left very bad impression onmany people in Shenyang.” Later, Zhao Benshan promoted “green sing-and-dance duet” and gradually, more people like the art form. Liu Laogen Grand Stage thus got a very good reputation and has now become a symbol of tourism in Shenyang.
做真实的文化产业
Engaging in Genuine Culture Industry
刘老根大舞台落户前门阳平会馆以来，日收入10多万元，预计年收入将超过5000万元，年内可拉动内需1亿元以上。
After Liu Laogen Grand Stage was moved to Pingyang Assembly Hall in Qianmen, it has daily revenue of more than 100,000 yuan with annual income exceeding 50 million yuan. Within the year, the theater will increase domestic demands of more than 100 million yuan.
赵本山说，“百姓需要快乐，他们是最好的专家。写一本书得有人读，做一件产品得有人买，做一件衣服得有人穿，文化产品也是这样，得能让观众花钱进来看，我们的命运就掌握在他们手里。”
Zhao Benshan said, “The common people love to be happy and they are the best experts (to evaluate our work). When you write a book, you need to have readers; when you produce some products, you need buyers and when you make clothes, you need someone to wear them. So is the culture industry. You need to have audiences to pay to watch your performances. Our life is controlled by them.”
“有的人做演出，投入上千万，就等着上北京让领导看一眼，登两天报纸，完事儿锁箱子里，给社会带来多大麻烦？你把那钱给下岗职工好不好？”对于那些无视大众需求的文化演出活动，赵本山非常不赞同，他说，“不要弄虚作假，要做就做真实的文化产业。”
“Some people invested dozens of thousands of yuan into a performance and only perform for the leaders in Beijing and show up on the newspaper for a couple of days. After that, they never perform again. This has brought great trouble to our society. Why don’t you give the money to the laid-off workers?” Zhao Benshan hates the cultural performances that overlook the demands of the common people. He said, “I do not want to make trickeries. What I want to do is the genuine culture industry.”
然而，对于赵本山的剧场二人转，并不是人人赞同。对于近日一些专家从“非遗”保护角度提出的质疑，赵本山表示，自己更在意的是观众的意见，“二人转既然要在市场上生存，必须要适应市场的变化，否则就会走向消亡。”
However, not all the people consent with Zhao Benshan’s operation model of performing sing-and-dance duet in theaters. For the fact that some experts recently doubted his practice from the angle of intangible heritage protection, Zhao Benshan indicated that he cared more about the opinion of his audiences. “Since the duet needs to make survive in the market, it should adapt itself to the market change. Otherwise, it will die out.”
对于那些批评二人转“低俗”的声音，赵本山回应说，“不要因为高雅就拒绝了通俗，我们这么大的国家，你得先让几亿农民听懂了。”他认为，其实大众一喜欢，高端就喜欢，莎士比亚就是这样被高端接受的，高雅就是这样诞生的。
Some people criticize that sing-and-dance duet is in bad taste. Zhao Benshan said, “Don’t reject popular art because of elegant art. China is a big country and you must first make dozens of millions of farmers understand your art.” He noted that when the common people like some kind of art form, the high-end people will like it. Shakespeare’s work were accepted by high-end people like that and that was actually elegant art.
在刘老根大舞台的带动下，一个个二人转剧场迅速发展起来。据统计，目前全国从事二人转的演员不下10万人，而专门的二人转剧场仅沈阳一地就有近20家，二人转演艺已经结结实实地成为一项文化产业，一名从业人员告诉记者，“不管怎样，无论别人怎么说，二人转今天能发展得这么红火，跟赵本山是密不可分的。”
Promoted by Liu Laogen Grand Stage, many other theaters for sing-and-dance duet also maintains rapid development. Statistics show that more than 100,000 people throughout China are sing-and-dance duet performers and the number of theaters focusing on the art is nearly 20 only in Shenyang. Sing-and-dance duet has become a de fecto form of art. An insider said, “I don’t care what other people say about it. The fact is, Zhao Benshan has made a great contribution to make sing-and-dance duet so popular today.”