The Monkey King, a new opera composed by Huang Ro with a libretto by Professor David Henry Hwang, will have its world premiere at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco this month. The show will open November 14 and run until November 30, 2025.
The opera reimagines the legend of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King—a beloved figure in Chinese culture. Performed in English and Mandarin and employing a combination of opera, dance, and puppetry, The Monkey King traces the story of its titular hero as he battles gods of the seas and heavens to achieve immortality and enlightenment. Ro and Hwang drew inspiration for the opera from Journey to the West, a 16th century Ming Dynasty novel attributed to Wu Cheng’en.
The opera was commissioned jointly by the San Francisco Opera and the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota. Carolyn Kuan will make her Company debut conducting for this performance. The Monkey King will be portrayed by Kang Wang, one of the most praised tenors in the opera world.
According to Ro, "If dreams do come true, creating The Monkey King with my long-time collaborator David Henry Hwang for San Francisco Opera is one of those dreams. The Monkey King is Asia’s supreme superhero—loved and adored not only by Chinese people throughout the centuries, but increasingly by people throughout the world. In our new opera, which blends cultural traditions with a spectacular multidisciplinary production, I hope to bring this Eastern superhero to life and shine a positive light that will always appear in any turbulent time."
Hwang is a Tony, OBIE, and Grammy Award winner as well as a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. He has recently been elected into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, and presented with the Dramatists Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He serves on boards of the Dramatists Guild, Dramatists Guild Fund, and Entertainment Community Fund, and is Trustee and former Chair of the American Theatre Wing.
