![]() Hwang knew that “of the four great Chinese novels, Dream was the domestic story – and the sexy one. He is the librettist of Unsuk Chin’s Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Howard Shore’s The Fly, Philip Glass’ The Voyage, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamaramong others. Butterfly, Hwang - whose mother was a piano teacher - has a passionate interest in opera. ![]() Known for his many plays, including the Tony-Award winning M. The playwright was aware of Cao Xueqin’s original novel “by its formidable reputation, but I never read it, not even in translation.” ![]() Hwang eventually became co-author with Sheng of the English libretto for the opera, which will have its world premiere Sept. That was the main reason Hwang at first turned down composer Bright Sheng’s request to write the libretto for the San Francisco Opera-commissioned Dream of the Red Chamber, a co-production with Hong Kong Arts Festival. Chinese and Asian themes dominate in his large oeuvre of drama and opera, though he readily admits that “my Chinese is fairly non-existent.” David Henry Hwang read the novel’s English translation. ![]() SAN FRANCISCO - David Henry Hwang’s first hit play - at age 22 - was the 1979 FOB, but there is nothing “fresh off the boat” about the Los Angeles-born author, who lives in New York. Relief panel portraying star-crossed lovers in the classic Chinese novel by Cao Xueqin, ‘Dream of the Red Chamber.’
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