Meritorious Artist Huu Chau - Memories of stage and life: Happy days with Mrs. Bay Nam

Editor's note: At the Kim Cuong troupe, Meritorious Artist Huu Chau learned valuable lessons from previous generations, especially from artist Bay Nam.

My memory still holds many warm nights at the Kim Cuong troupe. The atmosphere was filled with the love of grandmothers and grandchildren, the love of artists, and the friendship of many years. On many nights when there were no performances or stormy nights, Grandma Bay (artist Bay Nam) would spread out a mat and sit with us kids, telling stories. We were all cheerful in all sorts of half-lying, half-sitting positions, absentmindedly and respectfully listening.

People's Artist Bay Nam and late General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh

PHOTO: KYNUKIMCUONG.VN

If a child is naughty, Grandma will scold them: "Every day you only sing for three hours. Three hours to practice your craft, for the ancestors to see. Yet there are some children who are lazy and fidgety. How can they be good at that?"

Grandma Bay was seventy-something at that time. She was still healthy and as resilient as us. We ate at "group" restaurants, ate at street stalls, slept on the streets, but she was the most neat, serious, and tidy. She was the symbol of a passionate love for her profession to the point of total dedication. She said every word, and even scolded Miss Hai (artist Kim Cuong). She scolded her, saying each word clearly, but with a strange love and affection.

I see our reformed opera and drama industry as extremely lucky and happy to have such exemplary and talented senior artists.

N THE STRANGE STAR OF THE DURIAN FRUIT

Wherever the troupe goes, the play "The Durian Leaf" is at the top of its repertoire.

With everyday scenes, often as real, no overly stylized backdrops, no overly conventional colors.

By the way the stars speak and act. They speak Vietnamese with a Southern accent as solid as a grain of rice put into a barn, with charming dialect words. Each person has their own voice, making them unforgettable and memorable. For example, Miss Hai Kim Cuong mesmerized the audience with her gestures typical of a Western country girl, both gentle, rustic and charming and witty. The sweet line: "Please sit down, Sinh!" and her posture of holding a basket of balut eggs in the play Under Two Colors of Ao Dai have become immortal.

People's Artist Bay Nam puts on makeup before the performance

PHOTO: KYNUKIMCUONG.VN

By stage straight to the heart.

During the performances of the play “The Durian Leaf” , the stage in the Central region was filled with shivers. The audience was huge. A huge crowd cried, laughed, rejoiced, and was angry. Strangely enough, the real star of “The Durian Leaf” was not the legendary Kim Cuong but a compassionate old woman from the South, with a love for her children and grandchildren as deep as the Pacific Ocean.

Miss Hai said: "There has never been a play where the ticket seller, the star of the play, is not a young and beautiful person, but an old woman, a frail and weak old woman. She brings tears to the eyes of the audience without needing to be lavished with makeup."

Her sobbing, trembling, miserable figure convinced everyone. No one was spared. Especially children like me who stood with her, as her granddaughter on stage. I looked down and saw the audience holding their breath and looking up. I looked around and saw the fire of her talent, of Miss Hai. Many times I cried and trembled because I was truly happy.

I STUDY ABROAD, BIT BY BIT

Evening show. Show starts at 7:30. Grandma finished eating early. At 6 o'clock I saw her in the dressing room, bustling around. Checking to see if her slippers, clogs, and clothes were in the right place, then she sat down to do her makeup.

Later, unconsciously, I was the same. Every night I went to sing, I absolutely did not date, did not drink and linger. I was leisurely, not hasty, always sat in my seat after looking back and forth to see if everything I needed was complete, never panicking in the middle of the song that I was missing this or that. After singing, I could date whoever I wanted, play whatever I wanted. My grandmother had implicitly told me that these actions were the qualities of an artist. No school or class taught you in such detail, so look carefully and learn for yourself.

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I also used to be a hasty forgetful person. I used to be a clumsy Sang in The Durian Leaf . There was a part where Ms. Dieu said to her son: "Sang, these are two taels of gold earrings, the only memory your grandmother left for me. There were many days when we didn't have rice to eat, I didn't dare sell these earrings..."

I received the earrings from Miss Hai, then somehow I absentmindedly put them somewhere. They disappeared, I can't find them. I'm on a long trip, where can I buy them?

I mustered up all my courage to sit near my grandmother. Grandmother Bay kindly told me: "You know, "stuffed toys" and "acting toys" are also actors. When you go on stage, they help you. The acting toys are like a shadow to you, you don't know how to preserve them, what will you do if they are lost? I'll forgive you this first time, but don't do that again, okay?"

Having said that, Grandma fumbled to open the drawer and took out… a bag full of spare earrings. Grandma was so thoughtful.

I learned that trait, so now I have my own personal tools that have followed me for decades. Never forgotten, never lost or complained to anyone. (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nsut-huu-chau-hoi-uc-san-khau-va-cuoc-doi-thang-ngay-hanh-phuc-ben-ba-bay-nam-185250915231400821.htm