There’s a new hero in the world of opera, one with amazing superpowers, an unstoppable mission — and a tail.
“The Monkey King,” created by composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang, hearkens back to the 16th-century Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” It’s a classic story, but this new opera’s premiere Nov. 14 at San Francisco Opera promises to endow the original with an unparalleled fusion of ancient traditions, Eastern and Western-themed music, and jaw-dropping 21st-century stagecraft.
The San Francisco Opera production, starring tenor Kang Wang in the title role, is a seamless blend of Chinese literature and new music, dance and projections, Buddhist sutras, fantastic costumes and puppets by the acclaimed puppet-master Basil Twist. Diane Paulus is the director, and Carolyn Kuan conducts. Performances — in English and Mandarin, with English and Chinese supertitles — run Nov. 14-30 at the War Memorial Opera House.
“The Monkey King” continues the company’s interest in Chinese sources; in 2016, “Dream of the Red Chamber” received its premiere at the War Memorial to great acclaim. In a recent interview, company General Director Matthew Shilvock said the lure to continue visiting these works was powerful. “We saw just how deeply it resonated with audiences who’d grown up with that work, with that piece of Chinese literature, and found a real sense of belonging because of it,” he said. “It also drew new audiences — like me — who encountered that work of world fiction for the first time. If ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ was one of the four great Chinese novels, we thought we should look at the other three as possible avenues for another Chinese commission.”
Shilvock said his first step was meeting composer Huang Ruo. It was 2017, and Ruo had great ideas for the work. “He grew up with these novels, including ‘Journey to the West,’ and was passionate about telling that story on the opera stage,” Shilvock recalled.
Since then, the composer’s score, he added, has exceeded all expectations. “It’s such a great story, and ‘The Monkey King’ gives him full rein in all aspects of the musical style that he’s really made his own. This is his tenth opera, and he has this ability to write for a choral ensemble that hits you right in the heart, from the highly propulsive rhythms of battle sequences to these glorious, sublime melodies we hear throughout the opera.”
Ruo and Hwang, collaborators on earlier projects that included the 2022 opera “M. Butterfly,” proved enthusiastic and well-equipped to work together again, joining a large cast and many production artists for this new work.
The results, said Shilvock, have been outstanding. “The Monkey King” music has an epic span, from the fierce, highly propulsive rhythms of the opera’s battles” — Dave Maier directs the production’s essential fight scenes — “to sublime, glorious melodies.” Shilvock also mentioned during a recent interview that “we just had a flying rehearsal earlier today.”
Flying rehearsal?
Yes, among the opera’s many battles and special effects, Shilvock explained, are some breathtakingly ethereal moments. It was Chinese soprano Mei Gui Zhang, one of the cast’s singers, he added. “She was up on the Lotus Flower, flying across the stage. It was just this glorious moment, moving in three-dimensional space around the stage in the air. Really, it was just sublime.”
“The Monkey King” has been in the works for nearly a decade, notes Shilvock, and, like its title character, has taken the company on a thrilling, one-of-a-kind journey. The Monkey is a trickster, but he also dedicates himself to elevating his tribe.
“What I’ve come to love about the Monkey is this: he uses warcraft, certainly in the opera’s many battle sequences. But he also has this extraordinary Everyman-Everyperson sense in the way he’s looking for safety, a sense of belonging. In the beginning of the opera, the Monkey Nation is being incredibly put-upon, incredibly Othered, and he’s looking for a place for them to live. His antics are really in service of his community — not just for himself, but for his Monkey Nation.
“So there’s an incredible resonance, particularly as we’ve gone through these years of Asian hate in America, and seeing the story emerge that stands tall in the face of that. It’s a statement about extraordinary resistance and resilience. For me, that’s what I love about ‘The Monkey King” — it just has that secret sauce.”
Contact Georgia Rowe at growe@pacbell.net.
‘THE MONKEY KING’
World premiere, music by Huang Ruo, libretto David Henry Hwang, presented by San Francisco Opera
When: Nov. 14-30
Where: War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Tickets: $29-$447; sfopera.com.