舞臺上，隨著樂曲響起，一個光頭大漢健步上臺，但見他一邊左手拿著話筒、右手執(zhí)筆在臉上描畫著白色的油彩，一邊演唱著以昆曲曲牌譜曲的高亢渾厚的“昆歌”蘇軾詞《赤壁懷古》。轉(zhuǎn)眼之間，一張“包公臉譜”畫就。整個過程他既沒對照鏡子，也沒旁人指點，完全憑著記憶和經(jīng)驗。一曲終了，喝彩聲鼓掌聲響成一片。

這自唱自畫的絕活叫“三筆畫青天”，而這位表演者就是浙江昆劇團(tuán)副團(tuán)長、著名昆劇老生程偉兵。

南人北相梨園世家出人才

程偉兵出生于江南的湖州，但具有北方漢子的體貌:接近一米八的身高，體格魁梧，濃眉大眼，嗓音洪亮。他的家庭是梨園世家，爺爺對他的影響最大。爺爺祖籍河北，早年在北京三慶班演摔打花臉，后來南下到上海演連臺本戲，得名“摔不死的程雙慶”。程偉兵自小跟隨爺爺練習(xí)基本功，為將來的戲曲生涯打下了堅實的基礎(chǔ)。他的父母也是京劇演員，父親當(dāng)年跟隨周云亮在南京京劇團(tuán)，母親早年則在張家班。

“文革”期間，程偉兵插隊落戶到湖州雙林鎮(zhèn)，因為有著不錯的京劇功底，曾被安吉縣文宣隊“借”去出演了幾場戲，在當(dāng)?shù)芈杂忻??！拔母铩苯Y(jié)束之初，浙江昆劇團(tuán)開始招生，他來到杭州報名參加考試?？荚囘^程中，主考官周傳瑛感覺他的嗓音不同于常人，聲音洪亮，便問他:“你會不會翻跟頭?”程偉兵看了看四周，說道:“這房頂挺高的，只怕我跟頭翻起來要碰到?！币娝奈潆p全，周傳瑛便正式錄取了他，而他的這句話也成了昆劇團(tuán)的一個美談。

好嗓難得為保真嗓改老生

昆曲重小生。在程偉兵來到昆劇團(tuán)一個月之后，劇團(tuán)的謝書記找到他，希望他主攻小生。但是，小生和老生的唱腔有著很大的區(qū)別，小生的唱腔要由假嗓發(fā)音，而老生的唱腔則是由真嗓發(fā)音。在戲曲界人所共知:假嗓真嗓只能存其一。在改小生一個星期之后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的嗓音有些不對勁了。周傳瑛聽到后，對謝書記說:“還是不要改小生了，好不容易有一條好嗓子，不要把嗓音給毀了。我把《十五貫》都教給他便是?！弊源耍銓９ァ袄仙边@個行當(dāng)。

周傳瑛覺得，程偉兵的嗓音和北京昆劇院的侯少魁非常相似，就寫信讓他到北京跟隨學(xué)戲。誰知侯少魁因病住院，便讓他到中國戲校進(jìn)高盛麟的京劇班學(xué)習(xí)《麒麟閣·激秦三擋》。高盛麟破例讓他一道學(xué)—當(dāng)時別的學(xué)生都只能旁聽。這段經(jīng)歷，讓程偉兵的文武老生功夫得到了很大的提高。

回到浙江昆劇團(tuán)之后，程偉兵由“傳”字輩包傳鐸、沈傳錕先生負(fù)責(zé)教戲。當(dāng)時汪世瑜已調(diào)到“小百花”當(dāng)輔導(dǎo)老師，汪戲大都由程偉兵來出演，他嘗試用老生的唱腔來演“大官生”，竟韻味獨具，非常有特色。

對他來說，由一個知青走進(jìn)藝術(shù)殿堂，已經(jīng)是一件幸事。“傳”字前輩對他的期望非常高，要他把《十五貫》這出老生戲給演好。

老生之道甘當(dāng)綠葉襯紅花

一個昆曲演員，好的嗓音是其特有的財富。對于程偉兵來說，他有著一定的優(yōu)勢。

在昆曲老生戲中，有一出戲《長生殿·彈詞》，表演者需要生動地展現(xiàn)李龜年曾經(jīng)風(fēng)光無限卻流落到低聲下氣為人賣唱這樣的經(jīng)歷。程偉兵唱的一曲“不提防”，蕩氣回腸，勢如排山倒海，唱盡大唐由盛轉(zhuǎn)衰的傷心事。由悲憤慢慢唱到激昂，再唱到高興，最后慢慢回到落魄的感情，整整五十分鐘，從“一轉(zhuǎn)”唱到“九轉(zhuǎn)”，不給人喘息的機(jī)會。這出戲是程偉兵的拿手好戲。當(dāng)年在鄭傳鑒和包傳鐸的幫助下，他花了半年的時間，才將這部戲排好。白先勇曾說:“近十年以來，《彈詞》這出戲在大陸沒有一個能超過程偉兵。”2003年，白先勇邀請他到臺灣參加名為“絕代風(fēng)華”的演出，并戲稱他為“天帥”。

不過程偉兵自己覺得《公孫子都》中的“寨主”尤為出彩。在這部戲中，一曲《勝如花》難度頗高。結(jié)果一唱完，臺下掌聲雷動，觀眾對他的演唱贊不絕口。在他的戲曲演藝生涯中，李龜年和寨主，可謂是他最出彩的兩個角色。

在昆曲中，老生的角色其實是陪襯紅花的一片綠葉，能夠由老生擔(dān)當(dāng)主演的大戲，除了《十五貫》，其他屈指可數(shù)。周傳瑛在病榻上曾為程偉兵改了一出《長生殿·罵賊》，希望能夠由他擔(dān)當(dāng)主演。

說到從藝感悟，程偉兵認(rèn)為，一個有心的昆曲演員，對藝術(shù)的理解，特別是對表演人物內(nèi)心世界的挖掘，是必須要具備的一個基本技能。在出演《臨川夢影》中的湯顯祖之前，他獨自一人來到了遂昌，尋找湯顯祖夢中的“紅粉知己”。終于，在獨山里，有一個大戶人家的女兒，琴棋書畫樣樣精通，湯顯祖心中的“杜麗娘”，也許就是她。

多才多藝四棲明星展才華

程偉兵不僅在昆曲老生方面有著深厚的造詣。在維也納金色大廳的巡回演出中，他作為十六位名家之一，參加了這一中國京昆藝術(shù)最高水平的盛會。朱镕基總理是京昆“票友”，當(dāng)聽到程偉兵用昆曲作曲、演唱的版本后，大為喜悅，頗加贊賞，并親切接見了他。

在那段戲曲不景氣的歲月里，他還跨入影視界，拍了不少電視劇，像《地下黨員》《游擊隊長》《浦江游擊隊》等，取得不小成就。他還在《西游記》中出演靈虛子一角;在《智保錢江橋》中擔(dān)任四集男主演，并演唱了主題歌。

在歌曲方面，程偉兵是幸運的人，得到許多為電視劇演唱主題歌的機(jī)會，譬如《江山為重》便是。在作曲家呂其民的作品演唱會上，他與專業(yè)歌唱家同臺演唱了兩首歌。

近些年，程偉兵開始涉足一些寫作和編導(dǎo)工作。在第二屆浙江省戲劇節(jié)中，由他編導(dǎo)的紅巖革命烈士作品《小蘿卜頭》，一舉獲得了“優(yōu)秀導(dǎo)演獎”“優(yōu)秀編劇獎”“最佳劇目獎”。他把一萬元稿費，全部捐獻(xiàn)給了“小蘿卜頭”的家鄉(xiāng)重慶山區(qū)的孩子們。

去年，在聾啞人協(xié)會和殘疾人基金會以及浙江省政協(xié)藝術(shù)團(tuán)的支持下，程偉兵將舊本三十四出的《雷峰塔傳奇》改編成為一晚的戲，于第八屆全國殘運會在杭州召開之際獻(xiàn)演，得到運動員們的良好反響。

昆曲“入遺”十年來，保護(hù)傳承取得了不少成績。程偉兵告訴我們，現(xiàn)在劇團(tuán)的演出活動相對于過去已經(jīng)有所的增加。而在過去，劇團(tuán)舉步維艱，鼓勵團(tuán)員發(fā)展第三產(chǎn)業(yè)，甚至在黃龍洞包下一個魚塘，交由程偉兵管理。為了增加更多的演出，程偉兵也曾尋找到一個在錢王祠古戲臺上演出的機(jī)會，并給劇團(tuán)帶來了不錯的收益。

程偉兵相信，總有一天，昆曲在內(nèi)地也能夠像在臺灣一樣廣受歡迎。

(本文照片由作者提供)

Cheng Weibin: a Talented Kunqu Opera Performer

By Sha Zhou and Wang Yi

When music sounds， a bald tough male performer strides onto the stage. He holds a microphone in the left hand， singing， in Kunqu Opera style， “Nostalgia at Red Cliff，” a Ci-poem by Su Dongpo (arguably the greatest poet of the Song Dynasty 960-1279)， while painting a facial mask on his own face with a brush pen held in the right hand. After a few minutes， a Peking Opera mask of Justice Bao is done. The performer uses no mirror in the whole process and he paints from memory and years of practice. As music stops， the audience bursts into applause for this wonderful performance.

This is Chen Weibin， one of the most famous elder male character players in Kunqu Opera. He is the deputy leader of Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe.

Born in Huzhou City in northern Zhejiang， Cheng Weibin is nearly 1.8-meter tall. He has bushy brows， big eyes and a delightfully resonant voice. Cheng’s family is a typical family of theater actors of modest renown. Both his parents and his grandfather were opera performers. As a boy， Cheng learned basic performing skills from his grandpa， which prepared him for a future theater career.

After the Chinese Cultural Revolution， troupes in Zhejiang began to recruit young talents. Cheng came forward as a candidate. In Hangzhou， he took the entrance examination hosted by Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe. Zhou Chuanying， a veteran Kunqu Opera performer of Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe， liked Cheng’s voice quite a lot， thinking the voice was resonant and extraordinary. Zhou asked the young man if he could do somersaults. Cheng looked up at the ceiling of the room and commented that he could touch the ceiling if he somersaulted. Cheng was recruited.

Kunqu Opera traditionally gives the best play to the Xiaosheng (young man character) player and always treasures talents who will turn out to be charming young men on stage. Cheng ran into a dilemma caused by this tradition. He was young， handsome and talented. He had every reason to be considered a hopeful for the Xiaosheng character. Mr. Xie， a leader of the troupe， came to see Cheng a month after he joined the troupe and wanted him to focus on playing Xiaosheng. The singing style of Xiaosheng and Laosheng in Kunqu Opera are different. The Xiaosheng performer sings 1tto while the Laosheng character does not. A week after he practiced the Xiaosheng， Cheng found his voice went wrong. Zhou Chuanying came to his rescue， suggesting that the young man should train as a Laosheng character so as to keep the wonder of his voice. That is how Cheng became a Laosheng performer.

Recommended by Zhou， Cheng went to Beijing to study under Hou Shaokui， a celebrated Laosheng player with Beijing Kunqu Opera House. Unfortunately， Hou was in hospital. Hou recommended Cheng to take lessons from Gao Shenglin， a Peking Opera Laosheng master. The special treatment Cheng received from the masters was largely due to his special voice. They had not heard such a young wonderful Laosheng voice for a long while.

After he returned to Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Troupe， Cheng continued to learn Kunqu Opera from Bao Chuanduo and Shen Chuankun. After Wang Shiyu， who used to be the best Xiaosheng character of the troupe， had been transferred to another troupe to coach young women performers， Cheng became a main lead man of the troupe. He stepped into the vacancy created by Wang Shiyu and acted his roles. Singing the arias of the “Great Xiaosheng” character， a role especially for gods， emperors and other heavyweight heroes， Cheng used his special Laosheng singing style. The voice offers an unconventional appeal. Theatergoers went wild and fell in love with him. They are still in love with him.

Over years， Cheng Weibing has appeared in many plays of Kunqu Opera. One of the two best characters he has performed in his career is Li Guinian in a play about the romance of an emperor and his concubine. Although only a supporting character in the play， Cheng sings a 50-minute aria. He learned it over a period of six months under the tutelage of two masters of the troupe. Bai Xianyong， a Taiwan-based novelist and a celebrated champion of Kunqu Opera over the past decades， once praised Cheng for his excellence， saying that no one on the mainland had outperformed Cheng Weibing in this play in nearly a decade. In 2003， Cheng was invited to stage his 50-minute aria in Taiwan， which is known for its large number of Kunqu Opera enthusiasts.

Chen is widely recognized one of the best Kunqu Opera artists. He was chosen with other 15 opera artists to present a show of highlights of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera plays at Musikverein Vienna.

Kunqu Opera is listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2001. Cheng Weibin believes that with the efforts of him and other Kunqu Opera artists， this traditional Chinese art form will go on to flourish. (Translated by Danni)