Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: "A child of a famous family cannot be negligent"

As the 5th generation of the Bau Thang - Minh To cai luong family, Meritorious Artist Tu Suong received strict education from her family to become famous as she is today. For her, it was a difficult process to accumulate and sublimate.

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Meritorious Artist Tu Suong is determined to continue the glory of her cai luong family. (Photo provided by the character).

- Hello Meritorious Artist Tu Suong, each child born into your Cai Luong family was guided to follow the profession, or did they choose it because they loved it?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: I have loved this profession since I was a child. I was very lucky to be born into a large family with a tradition of performing traditional opera. My parents passed on my love and passion for the profession. I have been performing on stage since I was 4 years old.

We were given small roles to try out, and from there we were trained further. I only sang musical songs and was rewarded, I remember this memory forever. When my siblings and I were a little older, we often stood in the wings watching our parents, uncles, aunts, etc. perform and learned by eavesdropping. Later, if there were difficult roles that I didn't know, my parents would step in to guide me. When I was young, if my singing or acting wasn't up to par, I was always guided carefully.

- What pressure have you had to bear since you were little as a child of a family of artists?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: Being from a family of artists, if my siblings and I make any mistakes, it will affect us more. When I perform, if I make mistakes, I am afraid my parents will scold me, and partly I am afraid the audience will criticize me, which will affect the family. But when I play that role well, the audience will just say: "He is from a family of artists". The criteria for the audience to evaluate artists from a family of artists is much more difficult.

My family, grandparents, and parents are very strict in their requirements for performing arts. In a split second, if we don't remember the play, we are scolded and scolded as usual. If we suddenly lose focus in our performance or accidentally make someone laugh, we are also told on, so that the family can scold us. Even if we try our best, the family does not praise us. The family only teaches and advises, not praises us in front of our face.

- To become a leading actress, many artists have to play supporting roles, sing background songs... but what about a family with a musical background like you?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: Since I was young, I had to play all the supporting roles such as: female singer, maid, military servant... To sing any role, I need to have capital to better grasp my art. Besides, I need to rely on the advice of the director and co-stars, and I also think more on my own. We also played some roles that our aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters had played, so we learned some more experience and received more guidance from the extended family. From there, we progressed and formed our own style.

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong and her compatible co-star Meritorious Artist Vu Luan.

- Do you sacrifice your health a lot for the art of reformed opera?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: My knees are often injured. The worst thing about me is that I gain weight easily. In addition, I have arthritis and severe sinusitis. When I take medicine, the disease gets better, but the side effects make my body retain water easily, making my face fatter, gaining weight, and not looking good in stage costumes. I have to reduce my medication. Every time I sing, I wrap my legs with elastic bandages. I shouldn't be wearing high heels, but because I always sing with tall actors, I'm too fat and short, not worthy of being a good actress or actor. I have to improve myself, I can't complain.

- Cai luong is no longer as high as it used to be. Have you ever thought back and regretted the path you were taking?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: If I were to say I regret, I would never have that thought. I only regret that I am not healthy enough to do what I want, to serve the audience and to take care of my family, my aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and artists. Not only Cai Luong, we need to join hands so that Vietnamese art and culture can have more new and better things and that our family's traditional arts can continue forever.

- Currently, Cai Luong is facing many difficulties, what is it that makes you always determined to stay with this art form?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: I love the art of Cai Luong very much and it is also a family art form. I am the 5th generation of the Bau Thang - Minh To family; my child will be the 6th generation. I also have the responsibility to preserve, promote and conserve, joining hands with all the brothers and sisters in the family. Whenever I receive a Cai Luong role, I am very happy and honored to receive the trust of the directors and producers. That forces me to try harder every day, to continue to protect and work side by side with my colleagues, to create good and satisfactory plays, not in vain the efforts of my grandparents and parents who trained me to have a profession to contribute to.

- Recently, you performed many plays at 5B Drama Stage, can you talk about the opportunity to enter this field?

Meritorious Artist Tu Suong: I was lucky to have performed three times on My Uyen's 5B Drama Stage. On the reformed opera stage, I played a beautiful actress, and on the drama stage, I played the role of a forgetful mother, whose fate was also tragic.

For me, cải lương and drama both have their own difficulties. In terms of choreography, cải lương and ancient Hồ Quảng plays are definitely more difficult. The way of singing, acting, and diction in each field is different. In cải lương, we have to be inspired, support our co-stars, and while performing, we have to have choreography, be graceful, light up the stage, and be creative. As for drama, we have to act for real and be in harmony with our co-stars. The "harmony" with light and sound, each side requires our utmost effort, not daring to rely on others.

- Thank you Meritorious Artist Tu Suong for this conversation!

Performed by Lam Khanh

Source: https://baocamau.vn/nsut-tu-suong-con-nha-noi-cang-khong-duoc-so-suat-a35058.html