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The Monkey King

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World Premiere
San Francisco Opera Premiere
猴王悟空
Composer
Based On

Inspired by the novel Journey to the West 《西遊》by Wu Cheng’en 吳承恩

Company
San Francisco Opera Association
Location
San Francisco, CA
Venue
War Memorial Opera House
Season
Language
English, Chinese
Sung Language
English, Chinese
Supertitles
English, Chinese
Commission

San Francisco Opera Association, funded by the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota

Archive ID
SFO_2025_04

Creative/Crew

Conductor
Carolyn Kuan(SFO debut)
Director
Diane Paulus(SFO debut)
Puppetry Director
Basil Twist(SFO debut)
Choreographer
Ann Yee(SFO debut)
Solo Dancer Choreographer
Huiwang Zhang(SFO debut)
Set and Puppetry Designer
Basil Twist(SFO debut)
Associate Set Designer
Sara C. Walsh(SFO debut)
Costume Designer(s)
Lighting Designer
Ayumu Saegusa(SFO debut)
Projection Designer
Hana S. Kim(SFO debut)
Peking Opera Specialist
Jamie Guan(SFO debut)
Chorus Director
Assistant Conductor
Prompter
Musical Preparation
Diction
Erie Mills(English)
Yang Lin(Chinese/Mandarin)
Chinese Supertitles
Assistant Director(s)
Stage Manager(s)
Assistant Stage Manager(s)
Dance Master
Technical Supervisor
Costume Supervisor
Wig and Makeup
China Representative
Cultural Consultant(s)
Workshop Support
Consultant

Cast

Guanyin
Monkey King
Kang Wang(SFO debut)
Monkey King Dancer
Huiwang Zhang(SFO debut)
Master Subhuti / Buddha
Jusung Gabriel Park(SFO debut)
Dragon King Ao Guang
Crab General
Venus Star
Jade Emperor
Supreme Sage Laojun
Lord Erlang
Lord Erlang Dancer
King of the East
King of the South
King of the West
King of the North

Show Dates

Streaming Information

The on demand period starts on Nov 23 at 10am PT and ends Nov 25 at 10am PT.

Scenes

PROLOGUE: Five-Element Mountain / 五行山
ACT I, SCENE 1: Mountain of Fruits and Flowers / Waterfall / 花果山/水簾洞
ACT I, SCENE 2: Cave of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars / 斜月三星洞
ACT I, SCENE 3: Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea / 東海龍宮
ACT I, SCENE 4: Jade Emperor's Palace / 靈霄寶殿
ACT I, SCENE 5: Heaven / Heavenly Stables / Garden of Immortal Peaches / 天庭/御馬監/蟠桃園
INTERMISSION
ACT II, SCENE 1: Mountain of Fruits and Flowers / Jade Emperor's Palace / 花果山/靈霄寶殿
ACT II, SCENE 2: Furnace of Eight Trigrams / Heaven / 八卦爐/天庭
ACT II, SCENE 3: Buddha's Palm / Land of Bliss / Five-Element Mountain / 如來之掌/極樂净土/五行山

Media

Sponsors

This production is made possible, in part, by:
Carol Franc Buck Foundation
Members of the Committee of 100
Jerome & Thao Dodson
Louise Gund
John A. & Cynthia Fry Gunn
Koret Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Marieke & Jeff Rothschild

Carolyn Kuan’s appearance is made possible by the Jan Shrem & Maria Manetti Shrem Conductors Fund.

Kang Wang, Mei Gui Zhang, Konu Kim, Hongni Wu, Jusung Gabriel Park, Joo Won Kang, and Peixin Chen’s appearances are made possible by a gift to the Emerging Stars Fund by Jan Shrem & Maria Manetti Shrem.
 

Additional support is provided by:
Emmanuel Chao, Margaret Liu Collins, Jerry & Thao Dodson, Sakurako & William Fisher, Sue Graham Johnston & Eric Johnston, Lyna Lam & Chris Larsen, Peggy & Boyce Nute, Isabel & Insik Rhee, Joe & Clara Wu Tsai, Barbara A. Wolfe, Akiko Yamazaki & Jerry Yang, Eric Yuan & Sherry Zhang, Julia Zhen, Zenni Optical, and an anonymous donor.

Diane Paulus is partially supported by OPERA America’s Marineau Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors, generously funded by the Marineau Family Foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

Projection Design Team to Mrs. Kim: Animators - Kelon Cen, Jamie Godwin;  Illustration Artists - Choul Lee, Yi Lin Zhao

Notes

To access the full production program, click the PDF link above.

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The Monkey King is presented by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, sole agent for Huang Ruo Publishing and Recording Company, publisher and copyright owner.