Minh Vuong: 'Le Thuy and I cannot be apart'

Ho Chi Minh City: Cai luong artist Minh Vuong expressed his feelings when reuniting with his "stage soulmate" Le Thuy in a live show celebrating 60 years of singing, on the evening of March 16.

During the performance of Minh Vuong - Khoi Nguyen vọng cổ at Ben Thanh Theater, Le Thuy was one of the most anticipated guests. The artist duo re-enacted the play To Anh Nguyet (playwright Tran Huu Trang) with the excerpt of Mr. Minh meeting Nguyet again when he was old, hoping to make up for his past mistakes. In the final scene, Minh leaned on his cane, said goodbye to leave, Nguyet looked at the trembling gait of her former lover with regret.

After the final scene, Minh Vuong teased Le Thuy by pretending to go straight backstage so that she had to hold him back, and together they held hands to greet the audience. Receiving a bouquet of flowers from a fan, he gave it to his co-star and said: "That's why Le Thuy and I can't be apart."

Excerpt from "To Anh Nguyet" starring Minh Vuong and Le Thuy. Video : *Mai Nhat*

Le Thuy said that Minh Vuong is her "most devoted stage lover" after more than 60 years of singing. In recent years, he has mainly been a judge in vọng cổ competitions, while she has toured abroad, and the two rarely have the opportunity to sing together. When she heard that Minh Vuong was having his first performance in his career, she immediately arranged to return home from the US to participate. Every time she returns to the West to sing, she is often asked by the audience to perform excerpts from Tô Ánh Nguyệt and Bánh Bông Lan - the modern classical version that is associated with both of their names. "He and I sing every part of the melody by heart, and we've been eating bánh bông lan for so long that we still don't get tired of it," she said happily.

They have been called the "golden duo" of the theater industry for decades by colleagues and audiences. Meeting each other in their twenties, Minh Vuong quickly became Le Thuy's compatible partner, replacing Minh Phung at the Kim Chung troupe. Thanks to their rare singing voice and unique performance style, the pair of artists made a splash through the plays Cold Night of the Wild Pagoda, To Anh Nguyet, Half a Life of Incense, and Blood Dyed Temple Yard. In 2008, Minh Vuong - Le Thuy were awarded the title of the Most Satisfactory and Longest Acting Couple of Cai Luong Artists by the Vietnam Record Book Center, after participating in more than 200 plays and hundreds of modern and traditional songs.

The excerpt from Ms. Luu's Life (Tran Huu Trang) is also one of the highlights of the show, occupying the longest duration. Minh Vuong plays Vo Minh Luan, the long-lost son of Ms. Luu (Bach Tuyet). In the scene where the character meets his father - Mr. Hai Thanh (Thanh Tuan), knowing that his father has suffered injustice in prison for many years, Vo Minh Luan hugs him tightly and sings: "Dad, dad, why is it so sudden like a dream...". Acting with Bach Tuyet, Minh Vuong portrays the innocence and simplicity of the poor boy, along with the pain when he witnesses his father hating his mother because of misunderstandings that are difficult to explain.

Gia Bao - the show's organizer - said that initially, Doi Co Luu was not in the performance plan, because Minh Vuong was afraid of his old age, making it difficult to transform into a young man in his twenties. However, audiences from many places texted him, asking to add excerpts because this was Minh Vuong's memorable role for the past 40 years, when he toured with the 284 Cai Luong troupe in the early 1980s.

Minh Vuong in the Khoi Nguyen vọng cổ performance. Photo: Mai Nhat — Minh Vuong in the performance "Khoi Nguyen vọng cổ". Photo: *Mai Nhat*

With Rang Ngoc Con Son (author Xuan Phong), Minh Vuong reprised the character Nguyen Trai - his rare role as an old man. Acting with Ngoc Giau (as Thi Lo), the two artists mostly sat in one place to sing due to difficulty in moving. Each time he sang, he caused emotion when conveying the character's thoughts about the current situation, witnessing corrupt officials harming innocent people. In the early 1980s, Minh Vuong and Ngoc Giau made a splash with this work at the Tran Huu Trang Opera House, directed by the late director Doan Ba.

More than 1,000 spectators filled the Ben Thanh Theater, staying after midnight to cheer Minh Vuong on until the final performance. When the show ended, a large number of fans surrounded Minh Vuong, taking souvenir photos with him. Gia Bao said the show was a rare cai luong night that "sold out" tickets when it was first announced late last year.

According to the organizers, in addition to audiences from Ho Chi Minh City and the West, hundreds of fans from the US, Europe, Korea, and Japan returned to Vietnam to watch, reserving seats months in advance. Sitting in a row close to the stage, audience member Bich Thuy (42 years old) said she was going with her 90-year-old grandmother, buying a pair of tickets a month in advance for four million VND. Thuy's grandmother in Binh Dinh heard that Minh Vuong was doing a show so she was determined to go see it, because "this was probably the first and last time she would see him sing."

"After watching, I understood that Minh Vuong and other cai luong artists from the golden age such as Bach Tuyet, Le Thuy, and Ngoc Giau have maintained their reputation for so long. Just by raising their voices, they are completely different from the rest," said audience member Bich Thuy.

Minh Vuong and the audience took souvenir photos at the end of the live show. Photo: Mai Nhat — Minh Vuong and the audience took souvenir photos at the end of the live show. Photo: *Mai Nhat*

Amidst the "sea" of flowers from fans, Minh Vuong jokingly said "I will try to sing for a few more decades". "I am still everyone's 'baby Minh Vuong'", he emotionally said.

Minh Vuong was born in Long An and went to Saigon with his parents to start a career since he was a child. He was passionate about reformed opera, so he studied with teacher Bay Trach and worked as a porter for the main actors and actresses in the troupe. After winning the Khoi Nguyen award for traditional opera at the age of 14, he started singing at the age of 14 and was invited to sign a contract by Mr. Long of the Kim Chung troupe.

In 1967, Minh Vuong began singing as a lead singer, and also collaborated with a series of female singers such as Le Thuy, My Chau, Dieu Hien, thereby becoming a star of the Kim Chung troupe at that time. In 1971, Minh Vuong's name really shone when he was invited to record, with the albums Nguoi Tinh Tren Chien Tran, Duong Kiem Nguyen Ba, Dem Lanh Chua Hoang, Tieu Anh Phung, Tai Sanh Duyen, Doi Co Hanh , and many modern songs such as: Bong Lan, Vuon Tao Ngo, Yeu Lam, Phut Cuoi, Bien Tinh . According to director Ngoc Giau, many of Minh Vuong's roles have now become standards, and have not found a successor.

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