A three-hour gala featuring cai luong (reformed opera) was held on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City on January 13.

More than 400 artists, musicians and dancers performed in a four-hour gala featuring cai luong (reformed opera) on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in HCM City on January 13. The event was part of a month-long programme featuring traditional Vietnamese performing arts. (Photo courtesy of the producer)

The event, which is part of a month-long programme on traditional arts, celebrated 100 years of cai luong, according to the city’s Department of Culture and Sports.

It featured 400 young and veteran performers, musicians and dancers, many of them working for leading State-owned traditional art troupes in the city and southern provinces.

Cai luong stars of different generations, including People’s Artist Le Thuy, Minh Vuong, Thanh Dien and Thanh Kim Hue, have contributed to the art’s development.

The artists performed famous excerpts from historical plays from the 1970s and 80s that are still popular today.  

The excerpts featured stories about the art’s establishment and development.

The event’s highlighted performances were staged by young artists from eight private cai luong and drama troupes in the city.

Excerpts from Thai Hau Duong Van Nga (Queen Mother Duong Van Nga), Chien Binh (The Soldier) and Rang Ngoc Con Son (Pearl in Con Son) featured patriotic themes.

Rang Ngoc Con Son premiered at the National Cai luong Festival in Long An Province late last year.

The play revolves around the unjust death of national hero Nguyen Trai, one of Vietnam’s greatest politicians and poets.

Meritorious Artist Kim Tu Long, director of Kim Tu Long Entertainment and Service Company, one of the city’s private drama troupes, invested 800 million VND (34,490 USD) in production.

Long played a leading role in the play and won a Golden Prize for Best Actor at the festival. 

“Through our gala, residents and visitors will learn more about the establishment, development and achievements of cai luong,” said Meritorious Artist Hoa Hạ, the event’s producer and art director.

“Our artists have worked several hours a day in rehearsals. We hope to offer a classic performance style with technology used in cai luong dozens of years ago,” she said. – VNS