Huang Ruo watched his youngsters on Halloween through 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 mentioned.
He determined to write down “The Monkey King,” primarily based on an episode from the sixteenth century Chinese language novel “Journey to the West” during which a primate born from stone acquires supernatural powers and seeks immortality. The work, with singing in English and Mandarin, might be given its world premiere by the San Francisco Opera on Nov. 14, the corporate introduced Tuesday.
San Francisco Opera normal director Matthew Shilvock issued the fee following the success of Vivid Sheng’s “Dream of the Red Chamber,” which the corporate premiered in 2016. Librettos of each have been written by David Henry Hwang, whose “M Butterfly” gained the 1988 Tony Award for finest 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 mentioned.
Ruo’s compositions embody “Bound,” which premiered on the Houston Grand Opera in 2014, and “An American Soldier,” first seen on the Washington Nationwide Opera later that 12 months. He’s composing “The Wedding Banquet,” primarily based on Ang Lee’s 1993 film, to look at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2027-28 following its premiere on the Seattle Opera.
Ruo wrote “The Monkey Key” partially as a response to discrimination through the pandemic.
“That was during the time that Asians and Asian Americans were being harassed,” he mentioned. “I thought it would be good to have some positive energy.”
There might be eight performances by way of Nov. 30, together with a livestream on Nov. 18. Diane Paulus directs a manufacturing with scenic design and puppetry by Basil Twist. The title character is introduced in 3 ways: by a singer, a dancer and a puppet. Tenor Kang Wang makes his firm debut within the title position.
San Francisco’s season opens Sept. 5 with a revival of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in a manufacturing initially by Mark Lamos from 1997, led by music director Eun Solar Kim and starring Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Adela Zaharia and Giovanni Sala.
Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” opens Sept. 14 in new-to-San Francisco Leonard Foglia staging from 2002 to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of its world premiere in San Francisco. Jamie Barton is featured as Sister Helen, and Susan Graham, who sang Helen within the premiere, is Mrs. Patrick De Rocher.
A brand new manufacturing of Wagner’s “Parsifal” directed by Matthew Ozawa opens Oct. 25 with a forged that features Brandon Jovanovich, Kwangchul Youn and Brian Mulligan.
Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)” begins the spring season on Could 28, 2025, in an Emilio Sagi manufacturing from 2013 and might be adopted by Strauss’ “Elektra” beginning June 7 in a Keith Warner manufacturing initially seen on the Prague Nationwide Theatre in 2016 and San Francisco the next 12 months.
The six productions match 2024-25 and are down from eight in 2023-24. Shilvock anticipates a $15 million structural imbalance on this season’s funds that tasks $87 million in bills, a distinction that might be lined by a better reliance on endowment. San Francisco offered 79% of tickets for its fall season, 3% above objective, and its common viewers age has dropped.
“I do take a huge amount of optimism and encouragement,” Shilvock mentioned. “The core relationship of audiences to the artistic product is the strongest I’ve ever seen it.”
