Designer Nguyen Viet Hung makes thousands of costumes for 'Storytelling River season 2'

The special art program Story River Season 2 - Legendary Train opens the 2nd Ho Chi Minh City River Festival on the evening of May 31 at Nha Rong Khanh Hoi Area - Saigon Port.

The program is directed by Le Hai Yen, with the participation of Stage Director Pham Hoang Nam, Music Director Duc Tri, Choreographer Tan Loc...

Designer Nguyen Viet Hung is responsible for designing all the costumes for nearly 1,000 actors and artists participating in the program. On this occasion, he shares interesting behind-the-scenes stories during the preparation for the festival.

- This year, you continue to accompany "The River Tells Stories". Is there anything interesting or challenging about the program's script that excites you?

My father was once the Director of the Petroleum Port. I was also a civil servant working at the Port in Vung Tau. In my childhood memories or old memories, the train trips are very dear to me. I had many opportunities to travel here and there, to settle abroad, but I still chose to stay in Ho Chi Minh City. I don't love a place if I don't understand it. I learned a lot, have many memories with Ho Chi Minh City. I love this place very much.

When I had the opportunity to accompany "The River Tells Stories" in 2023, I had the opportunity to learn more about the history of Ho Chi Minh City and love this land even more.

I, like many others, hope that the combination of the "quartet" (Stage Director Pham Hoang Nam, Music Director Duc Tri, Choreographer Tan Loc, Designer Nguyen Viet Hung), with the talent of "telling emotional stories" of General Director Le Hai Yen, "Storytelling River Season 2 - Legendary Train" will meet the requirements of history, culture, and politics but still ensure the appeal, high artistic quality with a new, unique form of expression combined with technological elements that will surprise and delight viewers.

- The show mobilizes nearly 1,000 professional actors and extras. The program's general director is very meticulous in requiring specially designed costumes. Did you have a hard time preparing for this?

My biggest pressure this year is the meticulousness of Chief Choreographer Tan Loc - who is in charge of the program's chief choreographer. Mr. Loc is very meticulous, very perfectionist, he controls the color, style, material..., he wants the costumes on stage to be as beautiful as in the movies.

Not to mention, there were some outfits that Mr. Loc had already made, but he wanted to change them. For example, a white shirt, he requested that the red shirt underneath be hidden. I had to choose khaki fabric - usually used to make men's pants, to meet the requirement.

Not to mention, Mr. Tan Loc wanted to have performances that would amaze the audience, requiring nearly 500 costumes that he did not let them wear the same. He wanted this part to be dark, that part to be light, a combination of brown on one side, gray on the other, yellow on the other... The same Ao Ba Ba, but some were sleeveless, some were half-sleeved, some were long-sleeved, some were buttoned, some were not... very diverse.

The 70 scarves also required different color tones. Even though the person on the train was far away from the audience, he still required the drawing and color to be the same...

Time pressure was also huge as we only had a few weeks to make thousands of costumes. If something had to be changed close to the performance date, the costumes would have to be changed or modified accordingly.

We are currently working towards the ultimate goal of making the show a success, a perfect show. Certainly, from a lighting perspective, the audience will be very satisfied with every little detail.

Besides, General Director Le Hai Yen and I have worked together for many years through many programs, so we understand each other very well. She also respects me a lot in my design ideas. With "Storytelling River 2 - Legendary Train", based on the General Director's request to stick to history, I designed to suit the historical context but still have a contemporary and theatrical feel.

It's the same costumes but I chose fresher colors, combined with accessories such as handbags, wallets, umbrellas... colorful, standard, luxurious, suitable for the historical context of the art program.

I have participated in many international programs but to be honest, this is a rare program that requires such perfection in every detail. The audience will be satisfied. Luckily, we have prepared everything quite well at the moment.

- Last year you also participated in designing and making costumes for the first season of the show “The River Tells Stories”. What impression did the success of last year’s show have on you and how do you evaluate the show’s impact?

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the largest economic and cultural centers of the country; it has outstanding financial and human resources in developing arts and culture. Ho Chi Minh City is also the largest entertainment market in the country. However, it was not until the first season of “Storytelling River” that the audience here witnessed the first live performance of such a large scale.

Last year, when people first heard about the show, they were quite indifferent, thinking that if they couldn’t watch it live, they could watch it on TV. When the show took place, many people, including many in the cultural and artistic community, regretted not going to see it.

The program has 3D mapping of the entire Saigon Port area, which is not easy to do; the drone show with flags, bridges, city symbols, the words "I love Ho Chi Minh City"... is so splendid that it makes people regret it even more.

The cultural and artistic world is both large and small, “good news travels fast”, this year as soon as I heard about the program, people were asking me for tickets. Artists and audiences are all looking forward to it, everyone is looking for tickets to see it. Last season’s program was a success, this season the audience is looking forward to it, that is the pressure for me and the crew.

However, pressure is also motivation. I love pressure, live with pressure every day. I am confident that my costume will contribute to the great success of "Story River 2 - Legendary Train" this year.

For me, the stage is a sanctuary, and when I step into it, I don't think about anything else. My crew and I's final wish is that the stage - the sanctuary - will shine brightly and be the most beautiful in the audience's memories. "The River Tells Stories 2 - The Legendary Train" will be an eye-catching art show, worthy of being awaited by many people every season.

Trang Anh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ntk-nguyen-viet-hung-lam-hang-nghin-trang-phuc-cho-dong-song-ke-chuyen-mua-2-ar872633.html