Professor of Professional Practice James Schamus and The Wedding Banquet go way back. Schamus, who teaches film history and theory in the Film and Media Studies Program, co-wrote the original 1993 romantic comedy with Ang Lee as well as the 2025 reboot starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone. Now, he is writing the libretto for the opera composed by Huang Ruo, which will premiere in Seattle in January 2027 before coming to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
The opera takes its plot primarily from the 2025 film which Schamus co-wrote with director Andrew Ahn for his production company Symbolic Exchange. In it, Mei and Izzy, a lesbian couple struggling to conceive via IVF, and Chris and Min, a gay couple whose relationship is straining, find themselves unexpectedly intertwined: when Min's family pressures him to return to Korea as his student visa is about to expire, he proposes a marriage of convenience with Mei.
In a statement published by Playbill, Schamus reflected on writing his first libretto: "Opera allows you to explore the inner lives of your characters in ways that cinema does not, so you have more access to their full range of emotional expression. The characters get to work out how they’re feeling in real time."
Schamus is an award-winning screenwriter (The Ice Storm) and producer (Brokeback Mountain), and former CEO of Focus Features (Dallas Buyers Club, Lost in Translation, Milk, The Pianist). He created, executive produced, and was showrunner on the hit Mexican limited series for Netflix, Somos. Works from Symbolic Exchange include Minhal Baig's We Grown Now, starring Jurnee Smollet; Kitty Green’s The Assistant, starring Julia Garner; Andrew Ahn's Driveways, starring Hong Chau and the late Brian Dennehy; and Rhys Ernst's award-winning trans comedy Adam, starring Margaret Qualley.
In a genre dominated by tragedy, Schamus brings lightheartedness to this big family drama. "When I first saw Ang Lee's classic film many years ago, I knew immediately it would make a great opera," composer Ruo said. "The opera tells a heartfelt, human story that celebrates friendship and found family, queer love, and cultural identity. Given what these films have meant to me, I am thrilled now to be joining James Schamus and a new generation of artists reimagining this classic work for today through an operatic lens."
