The Monkey King is a Philanthropic Feat at SF Opera

The explosive critical and audience success of SF Opera’s production of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang's The Monkey King could happen only in the supportive environment of its creation: the San Francisco Bay Area.

Marshalling the large, diverse forces of the production — for which approximately $10 million was raised — is a daunting challenge, even at times more stable than the present. SF Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock thanked community supporters of the production and “influential leaders spanning business, nonprofit, tech and cultural sectors” by saying “it’s a joy to have this incredible group helping us bring The Monkey King to life. Extraordinary things emerge from the Bay Area.”

Remaining performances are on Nov. 25 (7:30 p.m.), Nov. 28 (7:30 p.m.), and Nov. 30 (2 p.m.) in the War Memorial Opera House.

The San Francisco Bay Area has historically been a center of producing and enhancing Asian art and culture, as few places have outside Asia itself. The presence of Asian art in the Bay Area is so strong that last week it broke Silicon Valley’s hesitation to support the arts. Today’s tech firms are nothing like the arts patrons of old, who consistently helped great artists create masterpieces. But there are exceptions, including former Google VP Dr. William Coughran who is on SF Opera’s board.

At a special event hosted by new company sponsors Jensen and Lori Huang, the Nvidia CEO and his wife announced a multiyear commitment of $5 million annually to the Opera “to support its artistic work and the San Francisco artist community.”

Their gift helped to underwrite The Monkey King production. In the future, the donation will support productions, young artist training, community programming, and digital media initiatives.

To make the production of Huang’s opera possible, SF Opera called on the community and philanthropic leaders to form the “The Monkey King Committee” this past July — four months before the premiere of the opera, which was commissioned soon after the 2016 premiere of Dream of the Red Chamber.

“A distinguished and diverse array of influential leaders,” said the announcement, “spanning business, nonprofit, tech, and cultural sectors have come together in support of one of the most anticipated world premieres of recent years.”

The committee was led by SF Opera Board of Directors members and Committee Co-Chairs Jerome Dodson, Doreen Woo Ho (who, said a company press representative, “moved heaven and earth” to cultivate support for the project), and Soo Venkatesan. The committee’s honorary chairs were Jensen and Lori Huang.

“The Monkey King is a timeless epic that celebrates courage, transformation, and the spirit of adventure,” said Jensen Huang. “This reimagining of the classic Journey to the West — brought to life on the San Francisco Opera stage — is a breathtaking fusion of Chinese legend and American craftsmanship and artistry coming together for an incredible display.”

“I am excited to lead this committee to promote and fundraise for this innovative and unique opera that brings the best of the best of Chinese classics to the operatic stage,” said Committee Co-Chair Doreen Woo Ho.

“To me this opera also represents a huge opportunity to build a people-to-people cultural bridge between the U.S. and China as Monkey King, who is such a beloved figure, resonates across so many Asian communities here and in Asia.”

General Director Shilvock said: “From the minute we announced that we were creating an operatic version of The Monkey King, the Bay Area has had such incredible energy for this project.

“Journey to the West has such a strong, emotional connection for those who grew up with the adventures and irreverent charm of Sun Wukong, and it’s a joy to have this incredible group of committee members helping us bring The Monkey King to life.”

Seated on the Pacific Rim, San Francisco is home to the oldest Chinatown community in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. Chinese and Asian communities in the Richmond and Sunset districts are numerous and influential. San Francisco’s historic Japantown (Nihonmachi) is also old, dating to the early 1860s. People of Asian descent make up about 35% of San Francisco’s population, and 27% of the Bay Area as a whole. The Bay Area, then, is uniquely welcoming to Asian art.

Gene Luen Yang, the Oakland-based graphic novelist is especially relevant to The Monkey King. Known for American Born Chinese, which explores themes of identity and self-acceptance for the son of Chinese immigrants, Yang uses the Monkey King's story as a parallel narrative to a Chinese-American boy’s struggle with identity. He later collaborated with artist Bernard Chang to create the DC Comics series The Monkey Prince, which centers on the Monkey King's son.

Of course, institutions promoting Asian art are numerous in S.F. The Asian Art Museum, founded in 1966, is the largest museum in the Western world solely dedicated to Asian art.

For over four decades, the SF Ethnic Dance Festival brought together thousands of performers and audience members “as a beacon illuminating the city’s celebration of national, ethnic, and cultural diversity.”

The SF Asian American Film Festival (CAAMFest – Center for Asian American Media since 2013) and the older and larger SF Film Festival, have been presenting classic and new Asian films, videos, and performances for decades. The SF International South Asian Film Festival has been presenting films for 22 years.

Also, the Asian literary scene is present in bookstores such as Kinokuniya and On Waverly, community organizations such as Kearny Street Workshop and Art Forum SF, and public library programming.