Photos: M. BUTTERFLY at San Francisco Playhouse First Look / January 24, 2026 by David Hwang

The production stars Dean Linnard and Edric Young.

San Francisco Playhouse will present the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly, written by David Henry Hwang (Chinglish, Yellow Face, Soft Power, and operas The Monkey King, Dream of the Red Chamber). Get a first look at photos of the production here!

Inspired by the real-life trial of Bernard Boursicot, this breathtaking drama reimagines Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly through the story of a French diplomat’s 20-year affair with a Chinese opera singer.

This trailblazing and poignant play illuminates the radical politics of cross-cultural relations, gender identity, illusion, and desire. Bridgette Loriaux, who provided movement direction for last season’s hit production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at San Francisco Playhouse, returns to direct this production. M. Butterfly will perform February 5 – March 14, 2026 at San Francisco Playhouse.

Opening on Broadway in 1988, M. Butterfly catapulted Hwang onto the national scene, receiving immediate critical acclaim, and winning three Tony Awards including Best Play, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play, and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Back to Nubia: Stories from the Making of AIDA After 25 Years / December 16, 2025 by David Hwang

Aida opened on Broadway on March 23, 2000 after out-of-town tryouts in Atlanta and Chicago. The musical ran for 30 previews and 1,852 performances on Broadway before its final bow on September 5, 2004.

In honor of the show’s 25th anniversary, BroadwayWorld spoke to stars Heather Headley (Aida), Adam Pascal (Radames), Sherie Rene Scott (Amneris), Schele Williams (Nehebka), as Thomas Schumacher (original producer and Disney Theatrical Group chief for its first three decades), lyricist Tim Rice, and book writer David Henry Hwang to compile an oral history of the show’s early days, transition to Broadway, and legacy beyond the boards.

The Monkey King, beloved figure from Chinese mythology, swings onto the stage in San Francisco / December 8, 2025 by David Hwang

The Dramatists Guild Presents: TALKBACK with David Henry Hwang / December 8, 2025 by David Hwang

Christine talks to another fellow Guild Council member and pioneer, David Henry Hwang. In this episode they discuss how naming some of his characters after himself changed David's perspective on telling his own story, breaking the cycle of Asian Americans portrayed as “perpetual foreigners” on Broadway, writing for ourselves, and how the Guild is fighting for us.

Playwright, librettist and screenwriter David Henry Hwang is a Tony Award winner and four-time nominee, Grammy Award winner and two-time nominee, and three-time Pulitzer finalist His award-winning works include: YELLOW FACE, M. BUTTERFLY, AIDA, SOFT POWER, and the opera AINADAMAR.

*Note: You can watch the filmed version of the Roundabout's Broadway production of YELLOW FACE at pbs.org.

Listen to podcast at the Broadway Podcast Network.

San Francisco Opera’s The Monkey King is a thrilling landmark in cultural exchange / December 8, 2025 by David Hwang

This timeless Chinese folk tale retold as an opera is a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears that provides a showcase of Chinese culture.

San Francisco Opera’s premiere of The Monkey King is a visually enchanting retelling of the timeless Chinese folk tale and a thrilling landmark in cultural exchange.

With music by Huang Ruo and libretto by David Henry Hwang, this new opera follows the mischievous antics of Sun Wukong, the macaque born from a rock, who discovers this simple truth on his path towards enlightenment and immortality: “You cannot find the land of bliss with a leap and a bound.”

Behind the Curtain Tour: San Francisco Opera's The Monkey King / November 25, 2025 by David Hwang

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang makes multimillion-dollar commitment to S.F. Opera / November 25, 2025 by David Hwang

Jensen and Lori Huang appeared with San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock to announce an annual $5 million donation to the San Francisco Opera on Thursday night at the premiere of “The Monkey King.”
Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will donate $5 million annually to support the San Francisco Opera at a perilous time for the organization that has shortened its season amid financial uncertainties.

This year’s $5 million commitment will help underwrite composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang’s “The Monkey King,” a production that follows a mythical Chinese character who comes to understand Buddhist teachings through comic escapades. The Opera said in a statement that future annual donations will support creative efforts, including main stage operas, young artist training and community programming, though it is unclear how many years the ongoing donation will span.

A Chinese Classic Comes to Spectacular Operatic Life / November 21, 2025 by David Hwang

Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “The Monkey King,” based on “Journey to the West,” brings an old superhero to the opera stage.

Underestimate the Monkey King at your peril. Part trickster and part savior, he can tame the oceans and threaten the power of heaven itself. He is, basically, a superhero.

And as superheroes go, he’s one of the oldest, with a story preserved in the thousands of pages of “Journey to the West,” a classic Chinese novel from the 16th century. Over time, he has appeared in comics and graphic novels, TV shows and movies. Even in video games.

Now, his tale has been turned into a spectacular new opera by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, “The Monkey King,” which premiered on Friday at San Francisco Opera. It’s a production that has been given resources to pull off a jaw-dropping feat of music theater, making a thrilling case for the vitality and potential of opera on a grand scale. And everyone can see it: The Nov. 18 performance will be streamed live online and available on demand later.

S.F. Opera’s ‘The Monkey King’ delivers a brilliant fusion of East, West and wow / November 21, 2025 by David Hwang

Dancer Huiwang Zhang as the title role in Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “The Monkey King.”
Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

From a visual and theatrical standpoint alone, composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang’s superb new opera “The Monkey King,” drawn from a 16th-century Chinese novel, immediately ranks among the San Francisco Opera’s most thrillingly inventive offerings in decades.

Under the guidance of director Diane Paulus and a large production team, the stage is a riot of color and movement. The video projections, costumes and lighting give evidence of many, many imaginations working overtime to find the perfect effect or the most off-the-wall design.

Even if “The Monkey King,” which had its triumphant commissioned world premiere at the War Memorial Opera House on Friday, Nov. 14, had somehow lacked a score or libretto, it would still have been a magnificent spectacle. But come on — an opera without a score or libretto? Those are the best parts.

School of the Arts Celebrates its 60th Anniversary Gala / November 21, 2025 by David Hwang

Dean Sarah Cole poses with the evening's faculty tributes, Anne Bogart (left) and David Henry Hwang (right). Photo by Diane Bondareff.

With the 60th anniversary year of the School of the Arts drawing to a close, nearly 250 guests gathered under a swirling night sky—projected on the magnificent dome of Columbia University's Low Library—to celebrate the school and its incredible legacy at its Gala celebration.

The star-studded evening—which raises funds for critical student scholarships—boasted the attendance of several titans of the art world, including award-winning film director Jennifer Lee '05 (one of the night's honorees) and her actor husband Alfred Molina, playwrights Lynn Nottage and David Henry Hwang (another of the evening’s tributes), theatre director Saheem Ali '07, Broadway star Danny Burstein, and many more, all of whom came out to enjoy a special evening celebrating the importance of artmaking and arts education.

Dramatists Guild Foundation S6 Ep 5: "Not Just Paying it Backwards" David Henry Hwang / November 21, 2025 by David Hwang

*Note: You can watch the filmed version of the Roundabout's Broadway production of YELLOW FACE at pbs.org

Get a 1st Look at David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo's The Monkey King at San Francisco Opera / November 14, 2025 by David Hwang

Tony winner Diane Paulus directs the world premiere production, opening November 14.

David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo's latest opera The Monkey King is making its world premiere at San Francisco Opera, opening November 14. Get a first look at the production, directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus, in the gallery below.

Based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, the opera tells the story of a monkey, born from a stone egg, who embarks on a quest for the secret of immortality, mischievously thumbing his nose at authority along the way. The piece incorporates puppetry, dance, Peking opera, and Buddhist sutras.

Best Bets: ‘Monkey King,’ / November 14, 2025 by David Hwang

The Monkey shines: In what looks certain to be San Francisco Opera’s most eye-popping and resplendent production of the season, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “The Monkey King” makes its world premiere on the War Memorial Opera House stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday for an eight- performance run that will end with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 30. It’s based on “Journey to the West,” an epic Ming Dynasty Chinese novel that has become all-pervasive over the four centuries, having sparked innumerable artworks, plays, movies, TV shows, comics and graphic literature, music, dance and even video games. At its center is the irrepressible Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, an iconic character who carries every bit as much cultural weight as Western superheroes such as Batman and Superman, who does battle with deities on heaven and earth in his quest for immortality. Composer Huang and librettist Hwang, whose previous collaborations include the operatic version of Hwang’s 1988 play “M. Butterfly,” blend Eastern and Western traditions in the opera, sung in Mandarin and English and enhanced with puppetry, projections, dance and gorgeous costuming. Singing the title role in his San Francisco debut is Australian tenor Kang Wang, with South Korean tenor Konu Kim performing as the Jade Emperor and soprano Mei Gui Zhang as the Chinese goddess of compassion Guanyin. The conductor is Hartford Symphony music director Carolyn Kuan, who led the world premiere of “M. Butterfly” in Santa Fe in 2022. Tickets for the production are $29-$447, but only $25 for the livestream of the Nov. 18 performance.

Bay Area arts: 10 shows and concerts to catch this weekend / November 14, 2025 by David Hwang

In what looks virtually certain to be San Francisco Opera’s most eye-poppingly resplendent production of the season, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s “The Monkey King” makes its world premiere on the War Memorial Opera House stage at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 for an eight-performance run that will end with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 30. It’s based on “Journey to the West,” an epic Ming Dynasty Chinese novel that has become all-pervasive over the last four centuries, having sparked innumerable creations in artworks, plays, movies, TV shows, comics and graphic literature, music, dance and even video games.

At its center is the irrepressible Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, an iconic character who carries every bit as much cultural weight as Western superheroes such as Batman and Superman and who does battle with deities on heaven and earth in his quest for immortality. Composer Huang and librettist Hwang, whose multiple previous collaborations include the operatic version of Hwang’s 1988 play “M. Butterfly,” have created a blend of Eastern and Western traditions that will be sung in both Mandarin and English and visually enhanced with puppetry, projections, dance and gorgeous costuming. Singing the title role in his San Francisco debut is Australian tenor Kang Wang, with South Korean tenor Konu Kim performing as the Jade Emperor and soprano Mei Gui Zhang as the Chinese goddess of compassion Guanyin. The conductor is Hartford Symphony music director Carolyn Kuan, who also led the world premiere of “M. Butterfly” in Santa Fe in 2022.

Classic Chinese superhero comes to life in SF Opera world premiere / November 14, 2025 by David Hwang

An early rehearsal for Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang's "The Monkey King," with the monkey puppet. Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Composer Huang Ruo long dreamed of adapting the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West” and its mythical character the Monkey King into an opera, but thought that ambition was a pipe dream.

“I grew up in China with that story — the Monkey King is equivalent to Mickey Mouse for us — and since I've become a composer it has been in my heart that it would be great if this intriguing, magical story could be shown on the operatic stage,” Huang said. “When librettist David Henry Hwang and I went to Matthew Shilvock of San Francisco Opera right before the pandemic, we were delightfully surprised that he accepted our proposal.”

Commissioned by San Francisco Opera in partnership with the Chinese Heritage Foundation of Minnesota, “The Monkey King” will make its world premiere Nov. 14-30 at the War Memorial Opera House. The opus, a fusion of opera, dance and puppetry, is in English and Mandarin and follows the fabled figure known in China as Sun Wukong, who is born from stone and challenges the gods of the seas and heavens in a bid for immortality.

Proficient in martial arts, the Monkey King has an action-hero quality that has been cherished in China for centuries and has gained popularity elsewhere. Indeed, his superhero story has appeared in film, television, animation and in the blockbuster video game “Black Myth: Wukong.”

Huang’s desire to compose an opera about the Monkey King was reinforced in the wake of Halloween in 2020.

“My son was dressed as Spider-Man and my daughter as Elsa from ‘Frozen,’” he recounted. “I was thinking, wouldn't it be nice to have a superhero from Asia for young kids to look up to? Also, to have a costume to dress up in, particularly for the Asian-American kids so they have someone from their culture they could be proud of?”

A Shape-Shifting Hero for a ‘Third Culture’ Opera / November 13, 2025 by David Hwang

Huang Ruo’s “The Monkey King” at San Francisco Opera transforms a classic Chinese tale into a reflection on identity, enlightenment and the creativity sparked when cultures entwine.

Inside a cavernous rehearsal space near the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, the singer portraying the monk-like sage Subhuti was wielding a golden kung fu staff with serene precision. “Power alone is not enough” he intoned to the trickster hero of “The Monkey King,” Huang Ruo’s opera, which premieres this month at San Francisco Opera.

The staff came down with a sharp tap on Monkey’s shoulders — spiritual instruction with a comic jolt. (“Tough love,” murmured Diane Paulus, the production’s director.)

The Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, a longtime collaborator of Huang’s, shaped a libretto from this unruly material, distilling its transformations and cosmic adventures into something that could live and breathe onstage.

“‘The Monkey King’ brings together the ancient classical side and the contemporary political side of his interests,” Hwang said of the composer, adding that Huang wasn’t afraid to draw from a wide range of influences.

San Francisco Opera’s ‘The Monkey King’ ready to premiere with magical Kung Fu and puppetry / November 13, 2025 by David Hwang

The Monkey King, a beloved figure in Chinese mythology, is now the star of an opera. With music by Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Hwang,

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) — A rascally superhero born from a stone egg, the Monkey King is beloved in Chinese mythology, appearing in everything from a 16th century epic to modern comics, animated movies and video games — even in poetry by Mao Zedong.

And now he’s the star of an opera.

“The Monkey King,” with music by Huang Ruo and libretto by David Henry Hwang, has its world premiere at the San Francisco Opera on Friday with performances through Nov. 30.

Best Opera Recording nominations / November 10, 2025 by David Hwang

Best Opera Recording nominations went to Heggie's Intelligence, Huang Ruo's An American Soldier (with librettist David Henry Hwang as a nominee because he produced the album), Kouyoumdjian's Adoration, O'Halloran's Trade & Mary Motorhead, and Jeanine Tesori's Grounded.

An American Soldier gets 2026 Classical Grammy Nomination / November 8, 2025 by David Hwang

The Recording Academy has announced the nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards. The winning awards will be presented in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 1, 2026. The following are the nominations in the classical category for orchestra, small ensemble, solo instrumentalist, engineering, producer, and opera.

Best Opera Recording (award to the conductor, album producer/s, and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist [if applicable] of a world premiere opera recording only):

– Heggie: Intelligence—Kwamé Ryan, conductor; Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges, and Janai Brugger; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Houston Grand Opera; Gene Scheer)

– Huang Ruo: An American Soldier—Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Hannah Cho, Alex DeSocio, Nina Yoshida Nelsen, and Brian Vu; Adam Abeshouse, Silas Brown, and Doron Schachter, producers (American Composers Orchestra; David Henry Hwang)

– Kouyoumdjian: Adoration—Alan Pierson, conductor; Miriam Khalil, Marc Kudisch, David Adam Moore, Omar Najmi, Naomi Louisa O’Connell, and Karim Sulayman; Mary Kouyoumdjian, producer (Silvana Quartet; The Choir of Trinity Wall Street)

– O’Halloran: Trade and Mary Motorhead—Elaine Kelly, conductor; Oisín Ó Dálaigh and John Molloy; Alex Dowling and Emma O’Halloran, producers (Irish National Opera Orchestra; Mark O’Halloran)

– Tesori: Grounded—Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ben Bliss, Emily D’Angelo, Greer Grimsley, and Kyle Miller; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus; George Brant)

David Henry Hwang's Particle Fever Musical Will Make World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse / October 30, 2025 by David Hwang

La Jolla Playhouse's 2026-2027 season will feature three world-premiere musicals—The Family Album, GRIM, and Particle Fever—as well as the West Coast premieres of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Purpose and Ngozi Anyanwu's The Monsters, and the world premiere of Mat Smart's A Black-billed Cuckoo.

The 2026-2027 subscription slate marks the final season curated by Tony winner Christopher Ashley, the Playhouse’s Artistic Director, who will depart the organization in January 2026 after nearly two decades, to lead New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company.

The world premiere of the new musical Particle Fever, based on the documentary film by Mark Levinson and David Kaplan, boasts a book by Tony winner David Henry Hwang, music and lyrics by Bear McCreary and Zoe Sarnak, and a story by all three. Leigh Silverman will direct the February-March 2027 engagement, which plans to hurtle audiences into the most ambitious experiment ever attempted when more than 10,000 scientists from around the world joined forces to build the Large Hadron Collider and solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.