Thanh Nien’s gala to pay homage to late stage director

Thanh Nien’s signature annual gala this year will open as a tribute to the late Huynh Phuc Dien, nationally renowned show and stage director.

Director Dinh Anh Dung of the event Tro ve (Return), said in a recent interview that Thanh Nien wants to include the Tro ve (return) part in the script to express gratitude to Dien, who significantly contributed to the prominent place that Duyen Dang Viet Nam (Charming Vietnam) gala occupies today in the national calendar.

Dien, who passed away in late June, directed nine editions of the gala since it debuted in 1994 and was a legend in the local entertainment industry, proving himself repeatedly as a director, designer and scriptwriter over nearly two decades.

Dung said Tro ve part will reproduce a Vietnamese village on stage with the participation of all artists who have attended the festival over the years, an idea taken from a script nurtured by Dien.

The other part, named Bonjour Vietnam, “will introduce a new and lively Vietnam,” as this year’s gala also marks its 15^th celebration, the director said.

“For Bonjour Vietnam, I want to introduce young artists who will inherit and help develop Vietnam’s music industry.”

Vietnamese Belgian singer Pham Quynh Anh, whose hit song Bonjour Vietnam caused quite a stir in chat rooms and forums in the Vietnamese community around the world because of the nostalgic feeling it evoked in 2006, will also join the show, Dung said.

Scheduled to kick off this December 12, the four-day music and variety entertainment festival will be held at Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoa Binh Theater with the participation of 40 local and overseas singers, more than 50 models and hundreds of dancers.

Held to raise money for the Thanh Nien-initiated Vietnam Talent Fund and Nguyen Thai Binh Scholarship Fund, which grants scholarships to both deserving poor and outstanding students, the gala was taken to Canberra and Sydney in Australia in 2005, Singapore in 2007 and London in 2008.

Reported by Do Tuan