Ba Van: "The Genius" of the Cai Luong village, sang just 2 lines, the whole audience burst into tears

Artist Ba Van is one of the "big names" in the art of reformed opera. Although he doesn't have many lines, when he doesn't perform, the whole show has to be canceled because no one can replace artist Ba Van's role.

According to Dan Tri Newspaper, not long ago, in an overseas program, artist Ha My Xuan - a famous cai luong actress in the 1970s shared about legends in the profession. She mentioned People's Artist Ba Van - who is called a "freak" by the cai luong community with respect.

Artist Ha My Xuan shared: "Artist Ba Van is called a "genius" in the profession. But calling him a "genius" is not enough to describe Ba Van's talent. Normally, other cai luong artists when singing a role in a play have to sing many vọng cổ verses. There are roles that have to be sung from the beginning to the end of the play.

Ba Van had a special talent that made everyone admire him. There was a play in which Ba Van sang only two words. In that play, Ba Van played the role of a king, the king gave orders and Ba Van's character responded with only two words, there was no third word. Yet when Ba Van stopped singing, the whole play had to be canceled because no one could take his place. That's the difficulty of art, it's not a competition to see who can sing longer or act more tearfully."

People's Artist Ba Van (also known as "freak" Ba Van) real name is Le Long Van, born in 1908 in Ben Tre. Although born into a large family, his family invited a teacher to teach him music from a young age. He learned to play drums, play the zither, silver, zither and kim. Because of his clear, pure voice, he caught the teacher's attention. After a period of studying with the teacher, at the age of 14, he sang at village parties.

In the memoir "Tell the story of reformed opera" by artist Ba Van, he said: "I was born in Ba Tri - a poor countryside of Ben Tre province, but very rich in folk music. Ben Tre at that time was also the land where the amateur singing movement developed strongly in Luc Tinh. My family was poor and had many siblings, my parents wanted their children to have a leisurely career, not having to endure the hardships of working in the fields, so they tried to bring a teacher to teach music to my siblings from a young age."

At the age of 20, People's Artist Ba Van joined the Kieu Van Tien singing group. During this time, he continued to study on his own, accumulating knowledge for his career. In 1924, on the occasion of watching the Tai Dong Ban theater troupe of the producer Hai Cu, Ba Van got to know the artist Nam Chau, who introduced him to join the Tai Dong Ban theater troupe.

At that time, Ba Van had a tall, handsome appearance and was talented in singing and playing musical instruments, so he was quickly trusted by the producer to sing the second lead. Ba Van's first role was "Cau Hai Van" in the play "Boi Phu Qua Bao" by playwright Pham Cong Binh.

Like many other young artists, the first time Ba Van went on stage, he was so nervous that he stuttered, making the audience laugh heartily. Even the two playwrights Nam Chau and Tu Choi, who were sitting below, had to laugh because of Ba Van's humor and charming pronunciation. From then on, Ba Van's next roles were assigned to blind old men or clowns on stage.

People's Artist Ba Van's singing was not as emotional as that of the artists in the troupe, Tu Ut, Nam Chau, and Tu Anh, but he won the hearts of many and quickly became famous for his sense of humor. That's why he was also known by the nickname He Ba Van.

In 1925, he joined the Tan Hi Ban theater troupe, specializing in Chinese opera. He was trusted to appear in the plays: Khuc oan vo luong, Trot tay dap dam, Tieng noi trai tim. Theater audiences were fascinated by the romantic singing and acting of Tu Ut, Nam Chau, Tu Anh, but also liked the comedic charm of clown Ba Van.

During the years 1937 - 1939, Ba Van's talent began to blossom when he joined the Dai Phuoc Cuong troupe which debuted in Hanoi. He toured the North 7 times from 1927 to 1950. From 1950 to 1975, he lived in Saigon and continued to contribute to the Southern Cai Luong stage. He was one of the masters of comedy, and was called one of the "geniuses" of comedy in the Southern stage.

After 1975, he continued his active artistic activities. His 8th tour in Hanoi was in 1977, when the Saigon troupe was invited to the capital to participate in a performance celebrating the country's reunification.

Ba Van is one of the great figures of the Cai Luong stage art. He worked in the arts at the same time as People's Artist Phung Ha, People's Artist Nam Chau, People's Artist Tam Danh and People's Artist Ba Du. His talent is not only in comedy roles, but also in his diverse and skillful acting ability in the roles of clowns, old men, poets, writers, martial artists...

His successful plays include Men Ruou Huong Tinh, Vo Ngua Truy Phong, Khi Nguoi Madan Biet Yeu and Nguoi Ven Do. In addition, he also acted in a number of films such as: Lan and Diep, Con Ma Nha Hoc Hua, So Vo Moi Anh Hung and Nam Vua Clown Ve Lang.

Through a series of roles such as: Diep (Lan and Diep), the boy Nho (Vo va tinh), the councilor Quang (Tu sinh Tu), Huyen Ham (Tiem hanh phuc) and especially the guy Giau (Men ruou huong tinh)... the audience sometimes cried, sometimes laughed their heads off at Ba Van's magical and unique acting style. After these "soul-capturing" moments, the audience and the media nodded and called him a "genius".

People's Artist Thanh Tuan: While singing, his heart disease relapsed, he is no longer in critical condition, and is not asking for money. Keng14:02:52 28/03/2025Artist Thanh Tuan was born in 1948, real name Nguyen Thanh Liem, born and raised in Quang Ngai. He had a passion for reformed opera since childhood, then studied with teacher Bay Trach.