In memory of People's Artist Ut Tra On, Meritorious Artist Le Tu plays the role of Tam Khoe "The Suburban Man"

Tưởng nhớ NSND Út Trà Ôn, NSƯT Lê Tứ vào vai Tám Khỏe — People's Artist Ut Tra On and Meritorious Artist Le Tu

On April 16, the theater world was abuzz when a portrait of Meritorious Artist Le Tu and the late People's Artist Ut Tra On was circulated on social media. It is worth mentioning that the classic cai luong play "Nguoi ven do" (author Minh Khoa, director Meritorious Artist Hoa Ha) was in the final stages of completion to be released to the public on the evening of April 27 at Tran Huu Trang Theater. This time, Meritorious Artist Le Tu played the role of Mr. Tam Khoe, alongside Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam in the role of Mr. Bay Don.

Unlike previous plays of Dai Viet New Cai Luong Stage, this "debut" of the producer Hoang Song Viet has pushed two young stars to the role of old actors. Cai Luong fans cannot forget the acting talent and warm singing voice of People's Artist Ut Tra On and artist Thanh Duoc who portrayed the beautiful friendship of two old men "18 villages of betel gardens" that went down in the history of Southern Cai Luong stage.

That's why on the rehearsal floor, the artists tried their best to transform into their roles, especially the dialogue and singing performances of the two characters Bay Don and Tam Khoe, which moved their colleagues in the play.

Meritorious Artist Le Tu confided that he admires the singing and acting style of two great stars who have gone down in the history of reformed opera. This time, being given the role of the late People's Artist Ut Tra On, who had performed so wonderfully, is a source of pride for him.

Also in an excited mood, Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam was honored to reprise the role of artist Thanh Duoc. And both tried their best to transform well, conveying the true revolutionary spirit of the people of 18 betel gardens, determined to follow the revolution, protecting the soldiers to break the enemy's pincers.

Meritorious Artist Vo Minh Lam met with the artists of the monochord to learn the performance techniques, applying them to the role of Bay Don while playing for Tam Khoe to sing in a space of a lush betel garden. On the rehearsal floor in the middle of hot sunny days, the heroic spirit and burning creativity of the artists helped the actors of Dai Viet New Cai Luong Stage dispel fatigue, aiming for the highest artistic efficiency.

Producer Hoang Song Viet has loved this revolutionary stage work since the early years of the Saigon 1 Opera Troupe's debut. Now he has the opportunity to decide to include it in the repertoire of the art unit that he has worked hard to build, simply because he hopes this will be an opportunity for the younger generation of actors to relive the heroic spirit that their senior artists experienced and also an opportunity for young actors to transform into difficult roles.

People's Artist Ut Tra On (1919 - 2001) from a young age, with innate talent and passion for practicing hard for decades, Nguyen Thanh Ut (his real name) became a Cai Luong artist admired from the South to the North, honored as "King of vọng cổ". He was born in Dong Phu hamlet (Dong Hau village, Tra On district) at that time belonged to Can Tho province, now Tra On district (Vinh Long province).

At the age of 16, he went to study singing in his hometown. In 1937, an acquaintance introduced him to Saigon Radio and from then on he officially had the stage name Ut Tra On. Thanks to his emotional, warm, sincere voice, imbued with the character of the Southwest, he was introduced on the radio and quickly became popular with many listeners. The first vọng cổ song he sang on the radio was "Thuc trot canh thu". With his passion for art and excellent singing ability, he often contributed his voice to the radio and recorded for record companies.

In particular, with his special voice, he contributed to enhancing the reputation of Asia Records with the 20-verse vọng cổ song "Tôn Tần giả điện" (Sun Tzu pretends to be crazy), composed by a famous Yết-Ma (Buddhist monk) at that time.

In 1942, he performed for the following cai luong troupes: He Lap, Thanh Long, Tien Hoa, Mong Van, Sao Mai, Thanh Minh... In 1954, he founded the Kim Thanh troupe, this was the first time he was the director of a famous troupe at that time and to this day many senior artists still mention it.

In 1955, in Saigon, in a press poll, artist Ut Tra On was given the title "First male singer" by the audience.

After the country's reunification (April 30, 1975), he worked at Saigon 1 Opera Troupe, Tran Huu Trang Theater and then Tai Nang Theater, also known as Troupe 2-84 (Hai Tam Tu).

In 1997, he was awarded the title of People's Artist (4th term) and the Medal for the Stage Career by the State for his great contribution to Ho Chi Minh City's arts.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tuong-nho-nsnd-ut-tra-on-nsut-le-tu-vao-vai-tam-khoe-nguoi-ven-do-196240416071238304.htm