HCM CITY — A series of drama, music and dance shows featuring hundreds of singers, dancers and theatre artists offering something for everyone in HCM City will begin this weekend.   

The open-air music show Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Happy New Year) will open on New Year’s Eve in District 1’s Lê Duẩn Street.

It will feature young singers and dance groups from local cultural clubs in the rural districts of Thủ Đức, Nhà Bè and Hóc Môn

The artists will perform songs written by famous composers such as Khắc Hưng and Nguyễn Hồng Thuận.   

A music gala will be staged at 8pm on Sunday and Monday at the Youth Cultural House on Phạm Ngọc Thạch Street. Thirty musicians and singers will perform with traditional instruments. Puppet artists and magicians will also be included. 

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend.

District 11’s Đầm Sen Park and District 9’s Suối Tiên Park, two of the city’s biggest parks, are promoting the holiday spirit through entertainment programmes.

Đầm Sen Park’s visitors will enjoy for free a programme of music, dance, comedy, circus and puppet shows, which begins this weekend and will run through January 1.

Suối Tiên Park will offer free tickets, candy and toys to disadvantaged children from shelters and open houses around the city, while young artists of the Small Drama Theatre will stage a new comedy to serve theatregoers during the holiday.

Đẹp Bất Chấp (The Beauty), a production by young scriptwriter and director Bùi Quốc Bảo, features young actors Quỳnh Như and Đặng Tài, graduates of the HCM City University of Theatre and Cinematography. Meritorious Artist Mỹ Uyên, the theatre’s director, will play a leading role. 

Director Bảo uses both Eastern and Western styles to feature the play’s theme about urban women and social problems.

He knows how to dazzle audiences during and after performances.

"A drama staged during the New Year holiday should be a party of sounds, lights and images,” said Bảo, before the premiere of Đẹp Bất Chấp on Sunday. 

“Our show is about a well-worn topic, love, and it brings new messages and includes new concepts for the theatre,” he said.

The comedy Đẹp Bất Chấp will be staged every Saturday and Sunday in January at 5B Võ Văn Tần Street in District 1. — VNS