Early days in Le Thuy’s performing career

Le Thuy started her singing career at the age of 14 in 1961 on the stage of Tram Vang troupe where she took her beginning steps to the arts of Cai luong. Le Thuy was the god-daughter of the couple Muoi Cua, the troupe’s musician, and she joined the troupe to learn how to sing Cai luong. Because she was not its official member, she did not get any singing parts when the troupe went on tours to remote areas. In order to give Le Thuy an opportunity to have the parts in a play, Mr. and Mrs. Muoi introduced her to the couple Thanh Son – Kim Ha, who were the leading artists for Tram Vang, to be their god-sister. 

Le Thuy recalled: “This was the first spring I lived apart from my family, so I felt very sad. The sadness multiplied when I was more like a servant to those leading artists than one of the troupe’s official members. I would have been happy even in a smallest role such as that of a maid but I was not given a chance! Nevertheless, because of the tremendous love for Cai luong and the desire to perform on stage, I swallowed my pride and put aside all my unhappiness and bitterness to learn how to sing. I was determined to become a leading actress some day.” 

Six months later, all the self-pity and difficulties faded away little by little when the owner of the troupe discovered Le Thuy’s wonderful and high-pitched voice, and he employed her to sing backstage. At that time, she was still a little girl, so she could only handle those small parts. Nevertheless, Asia recording company invited her to record Cai luong songs in 1962, and her first recorded song was “Nau Banh Dem Xuan” (Cooking rice cakes on New Year Eve). Le Thuy turned over all of her earnings from this song to her mother. 

One year later, Le Thuy became the leading actress in the troupe when actresses Thanh Huong’s and My Ngoc’s contracts ended. Several months after that, Le Thuy became so well-known and was a much-sought-after singer by many other troupes that hoped to bring her wonderful voice to their audience. 

Seeing that, Kim Chung’s owner, her then-manager, increased her salary 5 times (from $50,000 VND to $250,000 VND) in an attempt to keep her. A few months later, her salary went up to $600,000 VND and then to one $1,000,000 VND, which made Le Thuy “a millionaire” at the young age of 17. It was in the same year that she received another great joy – she was awarded the prestigious Thanh Tam award in the promising-artist category. 

Success and happiness continued to come to her in the following years. Unfortunately, in 1968, her house was burned down in the war, but the support from her loyal fans and the troupe owner, Mr. Long, helped her overcome all that. What Le Thuy had tasted and experienced in the early days of her career did not discourage or dampen her spirit, she still felt very blessed than many others. 

Le Thuy got married in 1973, but she did not ignore her duties toward her parents and siblings. At that time, she also received other prestigious awards such as “Bao Bien” and “Most beloved/admired performer of the year”… She got the honor to perform in the neighboring countries and in Western Europe. In 1992, she was awarded the title of the meritorious artist by the government. And she has promised to devote more time to the traditional arts of Vietnamese opera, even in her old age. 


Translated by onlyyou & lekt