Artist Huu Chau in the play House in the Clouds. |
“The stage career is truly bitter” - that is part of the memory from Meritorious Artist Huu Chau (full name is Nguyen Huu Chau, born in 1966) in the book Huu Chau - The Golden Cradle of Storms (page 192), written by author Thanh Thuy, published by Dan Tri Publishing House and Phan Books.
A life on stage
The memoir of Huu Chau - The Golden Cradle of Storms recreates the memories of a famous artistic family, the life of an artist who was born into a family of artists and who soon revealed his talent and excellent acting ability. Artist Huu Chau is a member of the once-famous Thanh Minh Thanh Nga Opera Troupe (his grandmother is the producer Nguyen Thi Tho, the owner of Thanh Minh Opera Troupe) - despite many ups and downs, it is his "happy family".
As a descendant of many "legendary artists of Saigon" (his parents are artists Huu Thinh - Thanh Le), Huu Chau also became an outstanding comedian with thousands of versatile roles "single-handedly handling both tragedy and comedy" in many stage plays, famous works that are very much loved by the audience.
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The special appeal of the book comes from the stories that only a close family member, a veteran insider like Huu Chau can tell in a sincere, honest, and intimate autobiographical style. The writing style of writer Thanh Thuy interweaves and blends sweetly with Huu Chau's memories to create a duet "sparkling like a golden chicken dream". There is not only the warm cradle of childhood for the playboy, but also the vast, harsh, and bare life that has molded for the public an artist Huu Chau like a "multi-colored gem".
Huu Chau stood on stage when he was only 3 years old. He joined the Kim Cuong Drama Group in the late 1980s with his first role in the play The Prince and the Shepherd's Daughter. He had many roles in reformed opera and drama works such as: The Durian Leaf, The Late Lover, In the Name of Justice, Conspiracy and Love, Don't Say Goodbye, A Heroic Life, Thunderstorm, The Scholar, Three Stages Four Appearances, Living Pretend to Die Pretend, Da Co Hoai Lang, nearly 40 roles in the series Once Upon a Time that lasted for 23 years...
Light the fire of passion Huu
Chau writes very truthfully about the ups and downs of the family theater troupe, the time when making a living "round and round", the "heavenly pain" of separation and death of relatives. Many pages of memories are very emotional, such as the years when Cai Luong was in decline, Huu Chau remembers his parents wandering to Long Khanh ( Dong Nai ) to buy corn from the fields to peel and cook for sale in the city. The whole family, including his grandmother (Mr. Tho), also rolled up their sleeves to work with their children and grandchildren. Then the two brothers: Huu Chau and Huu Loc went to sell newspapers from 4am every day to help their mother - the beautiful actress Thanh Le, who was once famous, had a period of working for hire, working hard to sell coffee, sometimes well, sometimes not...
Huu Chau respected and admired Miss Hai Kim Cuong (the famous actress Kim Cuong) for paying Huu Chau a "skyrocketing" salary, making his life a dream come true. He wrote about the gentle and funny "Uncle Sau Bao Quoc". Huu Chau's close friends and colleagues were recreated, from artist Hong Dao, the "treasurer" who kept his salary for him, Huu Nghia - a good classmate who teamed up with Huu Chau to become a "perfect couple" on the comedy stage, to Hong Van, Kim Xuan, Chi Hieu, Hong Loan, Huu Loc's younger brother... And of course, artist Thanh Loc is indispensable (Huu Chau has been working at Thien Dang Drama Stage with Thanh Loc since July 2023 until now).
Many theater students congratulate Huu Chau on his book launch. |
Until now, Huu Chau has devoted himself to acting in all fields he has participated in, from stage to many movies shown in theaters. Through many ups and downs, at the age of 59, Huu Chau admitted: “From being competitive and sometimes hot-tempered, I have become calm and gentle. Gentle until I know I am small.”
He revealed that he was greatly influenced and impacted when he played the role of Nguyen Trai in the play The Secret of Le Chi Garden (with 150 performances in 12 years). Interestingly, the warm house where Huu Chau has lived for a long time is also located on the street named Nguyen Trai in Ho Chi Minh City.
Happily admitting that he is in his “late afternoon” age (page 242), Huu Chau is currently a lecturer at many acting training academies with the passion to pass on the artistic passion to the next generation. Many generations of young actors and stage stars are Huu Chau’s students, and he has given them wings to fly in the artistic sky. Huu Chau’s concept of passing on the profession, passing on knowledge, and his kind heart in his mission is: “Please do your best to pave the way for the next generation.”
Huu Chau shared that the book Huu Chau - The Golden Cradle of Storms is "a humble gift offered to the ancestral altar and the grave of Ma Ba". "Ma Ba" is the affectionate name that Huu Chau and many other descendants call Thanh Nga - the beautiful family member of the whole family who made him proud, the "childhood fairy" who started "my life story". The talented artist Thanh Nga passed away when Huu Chau was just over 10 years old, but still left him a great gift of his career destiny and "the immense happiness of everyday life" (page 87). Huu Chau copied the poem that the audience admired about Thanh Nga: "In the sky there are thousands of stars/In the world there is only one Thanh Nga" and exclaimed: "I love Thanh Nga - my forever great love".
Loyalty
Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202507/doc-huu-chau-chiec-noi-vang-giong-bao-nghiep-doi-san-khau-cay-dang-va-vinh-quang-3961d83/
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