Huang Ruo's 'the Monkey King' To Get World Premiere At San Francisco Opera On Nov. 14

Huang Ruo watched his kids on Halloween during the coronavirus pandemic his son dressed 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?" the composer said.

He decided to write "The Monkey King," based on an episode from the 16th century Chinese novel "Journey to the West" in which a primate born from stone acquires supernatural powers and seeks immortality. The work, with singing in English and Mandarin, will be given its world premiere by the San Francisco Opera on Nov. 14, the company announced Tuesday.

San Francisco Opera general director Matthew Shilvock issued the commission following the success of Bright Sheng's "Dream of the Red Chamber," which the company premiered in 2016. Librettos of both were written by David Henry Hwang, whose "M Butterfly" won the 1988 Tony Award for best play.

"We were looking at how do we 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 said.