Huang Ruo's 'The Monkey King' to premiere at San Francisco Opera this November

The opera blends Eastern mythology with Western performance, offering a fresh cultural perspective
Huang Ruo's 'The Monkey King' to premiere at San Francisco Opera this November
This rendering shows costume designs by Anita Yavich for the six brothers of Erlang for 'The Monkey King', composed by Huang Ruo, and premiering at San Francisco OperaThe Associated Press
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Composer Huang Ruo's latest work, The Monkey King, will have its world premiere at the San Francisco Opera on November 14. The opera draws inspiration from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, telling the tale of a primate born from stone who gains supernatural powers and embarks on a quest for immortality. The performance will be sung in both English and Mandarin, reflecting the cultural blend that Ruo seeks to highlight.

The idea for The Monkey King was sparked during the coronavirus pandemic when Ruo observed his children dressing up as Western superheroes for Halloween—his son as Spider-Man and Batman, his daughter as Elsa from Frozen. “I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to have a superhero figure from Asia so all these kids could have something from that part of the world to wear, to look up to?” Ruo said. This thought, combined with the rise in anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic, motivated him to create a positive representation of Asian culture through art. “I thought it would be good to have some positive energy,” he added.

San Francisco Opera’s general director, Matthew Shilvock, commissioned the work following the success of Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, which premiered in 2016. Both operas feature librettos by David Henry Hwang, known for his Tony Award-winning play M. Butterfly.

“We were looking at how to continue building this repertoire of pieces that really resonate with an Asian American audience here in San Francisco but have the potential to cross the Pacific and find resonance in Asia, as well,” Shilvock explained.

The Monkey King is directed by Diane Paulus, with scenic design and puppetry by Basil Twist. The title character will be portrayed in three distinct forms—a singer, a dancer, and a puppet—offering a layered approach to storytelling. Tenor Kang Wang will make his debut with the company in the title role. There will be eight performances in total, running through 30 November, including a livestream on 18 November for audiences unable to attend in person.

Ruo is no stranger to tackling complex themes through his compositions. His previous works include Bound, which premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in 2014, and An American Soldier, first performed at the Washington National Opera later that same year. He is also currently composing The Wedding Banquet, based on Ang Lee’s 1993 film, set to debut at the Seattle Opera before its scheduled appearance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in the 2027-28 season.

San Francisco Opera’s upcoming season offers a rich variety of performances alongside The Monkey King. The season opens on 5 September with a revival of Verdi’s Rigoletto, in a production originally staged by Mark Lamos in 1997. Music director Eun Sun Kim will lead the performance, featuring Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Adela Zaharia, and Giovanni Sala.

Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking follows on 14 September, marking the 25th anniversary of its world premiere in San Francisco. The new-to-San Francisco staging, directed by Leonard Foglia, will feature Jamie Barton as Sister Helen and Susan Graham, who originally played Helen, now appearing as Mrs Patrick De Rocher.

A new production of Wagner’s Parsifal, directed by Matthew Ozawa, opens on 25 October. The cast includes Brandon Jovanovich, Kwangchul Youn, and Brian Mulligan. Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) kicks off the spring season on 28 May 2025, in an Emilio Sagi production from 2013. The season concludes with Strauss’ Elektra on 7 June, in a Keith Warner production first seen at the Prague National Theatre in 2016 and later in San Francisco the following year.

The 2024-25 season features six productions, down from eight in the previous year, reflecting budgetary adjustments. Shilvock noted a $15 million structural imbalance in this season’s budget, with projected expenses of $87 million. The difference will be covered by increased reliance on the endowment. Despite financial challenges, the opera company sold 79% of tickets for its autumn season, exceeding expectations by 3%, and reported a drop in the average audience age.

“I do take a huge amount of optimism and encouragement,” Shilvock said. “The core relationship of audiences to the artistic product is the strongest I’ve ever seen it.”

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