2006年12月30日晚上，雪后的北京空气清新，中南海怀仁堂暖意融融。胡锦涛等党和国家领导人与首都近千名群众，在这里共同观看盛大的新年京剧晚会，喜迎2007新年到来。这场名为《腾飞华夏》的专场演出，集中了当今京剧界老中青少各路精英，其中来自天津青年京剧团的国家一级演员刘桂娟与她的老师李世济一起，表演了程派名剧《锁麟囊》片断，人们从这位驰名已久的年轻人的舞台表演，再次领略到程派艺术的博大精深和无穷魅力。
　　
　　深得李世济真传
　　
　　刘桂娟是1975年考进天津戏校的，她在这届同学里年纪最小，入学时只有l0岁。她入学之初喜欢上文戏课，一提武功课就担忧。所以从她历年的学习成绩单上看，唱腔课总是名列前茅，而武功课则不理想。她的唱腔课成绩所以好，是因为她考进戏校之前跟人学扬琴时顺便学会了识简谱，这为她在戏校上文戏课学唱腔打下了基础。桂娟从小就灵性过人，几年时间，她兼容并蓄青衣、花旦、刀马旦，不同的风格流派都驾轻就熟。1980年天津市文化局举办全市青少年演员基本功汇报演出，她以尚派《昭君出塞》和梅派《贵妃醉酒》两出戏参演，顺利地拿了演员一等奖；1982年文化局再次举办全市青少年演员基本功汇演，她以程派《六月雪》参演，又获得表演一等奖。
　　1983年，文化部、全国剧协等单位在北京举办纪念京剧大师程砚秋逝世25周年专场演出，刘桂娟应邀在《六月雪》“探监”一折中扮演窦娥，她那浓郁的程派声腔备受首都戏曲界瞩目，时任国家主席的李先念、国务院副总理万里等领导同志也看了她的演出，都对剧坛上的这位新秀称赞不已。
　　1984年天津市青年京剧团建立，刘桂娟成为主演之一。当时李瑞环市长倡导青年京剧团实施封闭式百日集训，著名京剧表演艺术家李世济被请到天津，为刘桂娟加工《陈三两爬堂》和《红鬃烈马》这两出戏，尔后她在第一届全国青年京剧演员电视大奖赛上，以甜润的嗓音、声情并茂的演唱和准确表达人物思想感情的表演功力，获得大奖赛的最佳表演奖，在全国剧坛一举成名。
　　刘桂娟经多次向李世济提出正式拜其为师，李世济则暗中对桂娟从多方面观察和考验，到了1987年8月1日，天津中国大戏院举办了一场意义特殊的京剧演出，先由天津青年京剧团的刘桂娟与张克合演《武家坡》，后由中国京剧院的李世济与冯志孝合演《三娘教子》。戏终，李世济偕刘桂娟站到台前，当众宣布：“从本日起，李世济与刘桂娟建立正式师生关系。”原来，这场演出竟是以师徒同台献艺的特殊形式替代刘桂娟的“拜师宴”，观众对此报以雷鸣般掌声，此时李瑞环市长也登上舞台，向这对师徒表示祝贺。
　　李世济要求桂娟学戏不求多而求精，必须学一出落实一出，每一出戏都应该是拳头产品，质量第一才对得起观众。桂娟遵照老师教导，对自己所演剧目不敢有丝毫马虎，总是精益求精。
　　刘桂娟得李世济真传，演唱水平日益提高。十多年前北京《戏剧电影报》面向全国评选最受群众欢迎的五小程旦，她是当选者之一。2001年她以《六月雪》参加文化部在北京举办的首届全国优秀京剧演员展演，获表演一等奖。随后她应第五届中国艺术节组委会邀请，在闭幕式上演出《锁麟囊》，2004年她参加第四届全国青年京剧演员电视大奖赛，再次荣获最佳演员奖。这些年来她经常在中央电视台的“九州戏苑”、“空中大舞台”、“跟我学”等一些栏目出演，在同代戏曲演员队伍中她是出镜率非常高的一位。更令人称羡的是她有幸参加了“中国京剧音配像”工程，先在程砚秋与马连良合演的《桑园会》里为程先生的录音配像，之后又在谭富英与李世济合演的《武家坡》实况录音里为老师李世济配像，任务完成得相当出色。
　　
　　涉足电视与歌曲
　　
　　
　　刘桂娟在努力钻研传统京剧的同时，还十分注重拓宽自己的艺路。十多年前她开始涉足戏曲电视，先在《包龙图》的《访阴铡判》里扮演柳金蝉。京剧电视片的台词、唱腔、化妆、表演不同于舞台演出，一切得从头尝试，她不怕挫折，认真体会导演的创作意图，调动自己多年的艺术积累，按照电视艺术片的规律去塑造所扮演的角色，电视片播出后获得了各界的肯定；此后，她又在京剧电视片《玉莲之死》里扮演王玉莲。这部京剧电视片是根据传统戏《斩经堂》改编的，在改编后的《斩经堂》中，她是个举足轻重的主角，光是唱腔就占去全片二分之一，剧中的一段“反二黄慢板”唱段长达12分钟，且每个镜头都要泪流满面，以致这个单元的戏拍了两天桂娟就哭了两天。
　　刘桂娟不光戏演得好，歌也唱得相当不错。1985年《天津日报》举办“希望杯”流行歌曲大奖赛，她是获奖的前12名歌手之一，天津、齐鲁、中旅、内蒙古、香港等音像出版社都为她出版了歌曲磁带。1987年她随天津青年京剧团赴香港演出，在那里她遇到歌坛明星邓丽君，两人一见如故，很快便成为好朋友。近年来她还在一些电视台的娱乐节目里当主持人。刘桂娟还在《天津日报》上经常发表演出心得、周游世界见闻、校园生活经历之类的散文、随笔。多年来她一直保持着写日记的习惯。2005年12月她随中央电视台手拉手艺术团赴阿根廷参加央视在那里开播新闻频道的庆祝演出。尽管她演出、参观等活动繁忙，但仍旧坚持写日记，常将行程中的所见所闻、演出反响以及当地的风土人情等等详细地记录下来，日记的字里行间常常闪烁着这位程派名旦的洒脱情怀。
　　
　　名闻津门的才女
　　
　　
　　刘桂娟十岁开始学戏，没有进过中学、大学的课堂，但她喜欢读书看报，加强自己的文化和文艺修养。1996年中国戏曲学院开设中国京剧优秀青年演员研究班，桂娟闻讯后立即向组织申请报考，成为该研究班的第一届学员。她在研究班除继续跟李世济老师磨练程派艺术外，最重要的课程是系统学习中国文化史、戏剧史以及其他文艺理论，这使她的艺术视野顿时开阔起来。文化素养的加深，使她的精神世界得到了提升。
　　近些年刘桂娟作为天津青年京剧团的国家一级演员，多次到美国、阿根廷、韩国、新加坡、新西兰、澳大利亚、马来西亚、泰国以及欧洲许多国家演出，把优秀的中国传统文化传播到世界各地，她在港、澳、台地区也很有影响。2005年她随全国青联“杰出青年访问团”走遍台湾全省，在台上台下、戏里戏外与当地同胞作广泛交流，2005年5月她应美国加利福尼亚州中国艺术学院邀请，为师生们讲授中国京剧，并且表演了《锁麟囊》《六月雪》等传统剧目片断，她的演讲和表演得到了师生们的热烈欢迎。2006年11月5日，从美国林肯艺术中心传来喜讯：刘桂娟荣获本年度亚洲最杰出艺人金奖，纽约市文化局局长亲自为她颁奖。这一奖项自1981年由美华艺术协会、美国林肯艺术中心、纽约市文化局联合创办以来，先后有张君秋、袁世海、梅葆玖、红线女、傅聪等我国著名艺术家蟾宫折桂，如今年轻的刘桂娟又金榜题名，实属难得。
　　
　　New-Generation Star Carries on Art of Peking Opera
　　By Zhen Guangjun
　　
　　Liu Guijuan has been famous as a Cheng-style* Peking Opera artist since 1984 when she attained the best performance award at a national television contest for young Peking Opera artists.
　　When enrolled into the Tianjin Theater Academy in 1975, the ten-year-old Liu was the youngest pupil in her class. She preferred singing studies to kongfu courses. Her school report cards over these years clearly testified to her preferences. She learned singing with ease because she had acquired the basics of simplified musical notation before she learned how to play the dulcimer. In a few years, she mastered Peking Opera singing for different roles and in different styles.
　　
　　In 1980 she came out first in the category of performance in a citywide contest of basic skills for promising young Peking Opera artists. The two highlights she performed were respectively in the styles of Mei Lanfang and Shang Changrong. In 1982, she again won the first place in a similar contest in the Cheng style. In 1983, she was invited to appear as the heroine in a major highlight in a performance in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Master Cheng’s demise sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and All China Federation of Operas. Liu’s performance was highly evaluated. In 1984, Tianjin Troupe of Young Peking Opera Artists came into being and Liu was engaged as a lead artist.In a close training camp, her performance was further fine tuned and polished by Li Shiji, a renowned Peking Opera performing artist. The intensive training paved her way to win the national top prize on television.
　　On August 1, 1987, Li Shiji and her disciples staged a grand show at the China Opera House in Tianjin. At the end of the show, Li Shiji and Liu Guijuan appeared on the stage together and Li announced that a master-pupil relationship between Li and Liu was formally established. Surprised and delighted, the audience burst into ovation. Instead of holding a celebration banquet as tradition required, the grand show served as an official announcement for the Cheng-style artists to recruit a new outstanding disciple to inherit and carry on this specific style of Peking Opera.
　　Li Shiji wants Liu to master everything she learns from her. The master’s teaching philosophy is that quality always comes first before quantity. Under the master’s tutelage, Liu has improved a great deal. She continues winning top prizes. Nowadays, she regularly appears in CCTV programs staging Peking Opera shows and teaching the art to amateurs all over the country.
　　As an outstanding new-generation Peking Opera artist, Liu has successfully adapted herself to the modern media to advance the Peking Opera art. Performing Peking Opera for television and films requires different skills. Liu studied the new media requirements and well adapted to the new media. She has successfully appeared in a number of Peking Opera films.
　　In the past, many Peking Opera masters never had the opportunity to have their performances filmed though some of their best singings were recorded. Nowadays, many have passed away and others have long been past their prime years. Liu has appeared in a number of Peking Opera films as the characters played once by these past masters while singings are dubbed by their records. Familiar with these arias, she does an excellent image-dubbing work. These new-image old-singing videos are part of the latest effort to preserve the grand legacy of Peking Opera.
　　
　　In her younger years, Liu Guijuan never received a normal education. But she is an avid reader. In 1996 she enrolled in a study course for young Peking Opera artists at the China Academy of Opera. She studied histories of Chinese culture and theater and art theories. In recent years, she has hosted entertainment programs on televisions. As a celebrity, she is a regular contributor of Tianjin Daily, which publishes her essays about her stage experience, visits to foreign countries, and campus life.
　　In recent years, she has visited many countries and regions as a member of Chinese cultural delegations. Her performances have successfully demonstrated the fine art of Peking Opera to the world. On November 5, 2006, she received the 2006 Best Asian Artist Gold Award issued at the Lincoln Art Center in New York. Since the award was first issued in 1981 jointly by the America-China Arts Association, the Lincoln Arts Center and New York Cultural Bureau, many celebrated Chinese have received the honor. She is greatly priviledged to be one of them.
　　
　　 * Cheng-style refers to the art of Cheng Yanqiu (1904-1958), a Peking Opera master. Peking Opera has witnessed many different styles of singing and performing over its long history. Masters of the past interpreted and injected new understanding into the age-old opera in different ways, thus formed different styles.
　　(Translated by David)