Phuong Mai

Phuong Mai (1956-    ) is an overseas Vietnamese singer and performer of Southern Vietnamese folk opera genres known as cải lương and hồ quảng.

Just like her best friend from childhood, Huong Lan, Phuong Mai was also a child prodigy with a lineage of theatrical performers.  Her grandparents were veteran performers of the cải lương stage of Saigon, Cao Tùng Châu and Cao Long Ngà.  Phuong Mai is also the niece of legendary stage and silver screen actress Kim Cương.  She began her acting career at the ripe old age of 5 when she made her debut on the silver screen with a small role in Ảo Ảnh (Mirage) (1961), a film directed by Lê Hoàng Hoa.  Throughout her childhood, Phuong Mai would appear in many films and plays at the Minh Tơ Auditorium in Saigon starring Kim Cương such as Na Tra, Cuối Đường Hạnh Phúc and Hoa Mộc Lan.  By the age of 14, Phuong Mai was recruited by the Hà Triều – Hoa Phượng Theater Troupe as the lead actress in cải lương plays.  Her biggest success while in Vietnam was her signature role in the run of the play, Lương Sơn Bá Chúc Anh Đài.  After the Fall of Saigon, Phuong Mai continued to perform at the Minh Tơ Auditorium for several more years starring in such well received plays like Dưới Cờ Tây Sơn, Xuân Về Trên Đỉnh Mã Phi, Lưu Kim Đính Giải Giá thọ Châu, Về Đất Kinh Châu and Tấm Cám.

Kim Cuong and Phuong Mai
 in Saigon (1973)

Phuong Mai and Kim Cuong in the Play,
 Cuối Đường Hạnh Phúc

In 1979, Phuong Mai left Vietnam with her husband and daughter to resettle in West Germany.  While in Europe, she continued to work with other overseas Vietnamese performers such as her childhood friend, Huong Lan, Huu Phuoc, Thanh Duoc, Dung Thanh Lam, Hung Cuong, Bang Chau, Mong Tuyen, Hoang Long, Ha My Lien, Ha My Hanh, Phuong Thanh and Kieu Le Mai appearing in various video adaptations of cải lương plays produced by Thuy Nga Paris.  During the mid 1980s, Phuong Mai made the switch over to Vietnamese popular music with her first appearance on volume 2 of the Paris By Night video series produced by Thuy Nga performing a pair of songs, Sắc Hoa Màu Nhớ written by Vì Dân and Nỗi Buồn Châu Pha written by Nhật Nguyệt Hồ.  She would be the third artist to have successfully made the transition from traditional Southern Vietnamese folk opera to Vietnamese popular music following Hung Cuong and Huong Lan.  Phuong Mai would become one of the most popular singers on the Paris By Night video series in the 1980s with performances of songs such as Bến Thượng Hải, Nếu Anh Đừng Hẹn written by Lê Dinh, Tình Hậu Phương written by Minh Kỳ, Biết Đến Bao Giờ written by Lam Phương and a duet with singer Duy Quang, Định Mệnh written by Song Ngọc,  In 1987, she toured the United States and Canada performing at live shows for overseas Vietnamese audiences in various cities with major Vietnamese communities.  The following year Phuong Mai was invited back to the United States to tour with Huong Lan, Huu Phuoc, Thanh Duoc, Dung Thanh Lam, Bang Chau and Viet Hung performing reprisals classic cải lương plays, Tấm Lòng Của Biển and Nửa Đời Hương Phấn.  During this visit to the United States, Phuong Mai had also recorded her first solo studio album for the label, Giang Ngoc, entitled as Trúc Đào and went on a successful tour of Australia prior to returning home in West Germany.  

After her marriage of nearly 20 years ended in divorce, Phuong Mai left Germany to resettle in the United States in the early 1990s where she resumed her career as an overseas Vietnamese singer.  She collaborated with various major overseas Vietnamese production labels based in the United States including Truong Thanh, Thuy Anh and Lang Van.  During the mid 1990s, Phuong Mai became one of the first overseas Vietnamese performers to return to Vietnam and perform for audiences in her homeland.  

Phuong Mai at her restaurant, Quán Hủ Tiếu Phượng Mai,
in Garden Grove, California (2016)

Now in a long term in relationship with magazine journalist, Trần Nhật Phong, Phuong Mai is currently the owner of Quán Hủ Tiếu Phượng Mai, a Vietnamese noodle restaurant located in the heart of Little Saigon in Garden Grove, California.  She is the mother of singer Thao Suong.