Last weekend within the Emerson Colonial Theater, White Snake Projects premiered their full of life new opera Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable, replete with colourful hijinks and a vibrant, polystylistic rating.
Monkey adapts the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, which options the intelligent, highly effective Monkey King, referred to as Sun Wukong. He is tasked with escorting the monk Tang Sanzang on the titular journey to the west to retrieve Buddhist sutras; they’re joined on their travels by a gluttonous pig-man, Zhu Bajie, and a sand demon, Sha Wujing. The epic of those 4 heroes is a mainstay in Chinese tradition, and hundreds of thousands of youngsters develop up listening to humorous and fantastical tales of the Monkey King and his fellow vacationers. Being a Taiwanese-American little one as soon as myself, I used to be no exception — at one level I used to be even in a youngsters’s puppet present primarily based on the Monkey King! And so I used to be really excited to see this beloved childhood saga on the opera stage, as a “kung fu puppet parable” right here in Boston.
The night started with two songs as curtain-openers, with lyrics written by young college students from the Boston International Newcomers’ Academy. Both picks tackled the topic of rising up in immigrant households. “New Place,” that includes rapper Donte Harrison, spoke of acclimating to an unfamiliar new life in lyrics written by JL Rivera. Harrison carried out with assured model towards a stable hip-hop backing observe. In distinction, singer Justin Dimanche carried out “Counting,” a ballad with lyrics by Chenaya Valeus about serving to a father or mother with the household business. With lyrical string strains, Dimanche’s heartfelt tenor voice portrayed a youthful hope.
Andrés Ballesteros composed each songs, and I used to be impressed by his versatility of fashion and memorable hooks. However, these curtain-openers didn’t appear to narrate cohesively to the following efficiency of Monkey. Still, they had been sincere, well-performed portraits of immigrant experiences.
Monkey was a wild journey. Directed by Roxanna Myhrum, the opera started with some type of storytelling body, the place youngsters in trendy costume listened to a narrator starting the story of the Monkey King. Afterwards, the motion shifted into the fantasy world. Onstage puppeteers portrayed the three magical vacationers, right here named merely as Monkey, Zhu, and Sha. Technically, Zhu was a performer in a big pig-man costume, however the different two had been puppets operated by pairs of performers. The corresponding singers stood in boxed frames upstage, performing the vocals because the puppeteers carried out the actions. It was attention-grabbing to separate the voices and bodily representations of the characters, however I discovered myself frequently drawn to the full of life, expressive puppets. The Monk and his three disciples had been a pleasure to comply with.
Composer Jorge Sosa penned a wealthy, colourful rating for Monkey. The music included a variety of kinds, at instances sounding like musical theater or steel, at others carrying Chinese or Latin influences. The scoring, for piano, strings, and percussion, aided this stylistic range; ponticello and harmonic results on the strings added additional character to sure scenes, and a drumset generally jogged my memory of a rock opera like Tommy. (I requested the composer after and he did certainly have that present in thoughts!) At instances the music grew to become fantastically lush, such because the soothing lullaby, from a conventional Chinese melody. This rating was not solely eclectic however electrical, all the time imbuing the manufacturing with life. Conductor Tianhui Ng helped convey forth a complete palette of timbres and atmospheres from this rating, deftly directing the instrumental ensemble in expression whereas actively guiding the singers alongside the best way with clear, attentive cues.
The libretto, written by Cerise Lim (billed as ‘Opera Maker’ in this system), served the story and the music effectively in tone and wording. It was humorous on the proper instances, and suitably reverent and dramatic at others. The tonal shifts felt acceptable for the motion, whether or not lighthearted or epic.
I used to be excited about sure modifications to the unique story. The broad strokes are intact, in addition to Monkey’s humorous origin story, wherein he urinates on 5 mountains that grow to be Buddha’s hand. But naturally, in adapting a hundred-chapter epic to a ninety-minute opera, modifications come up. The opera provides the character of Mara, the Demon Queen, who tempts and tries the heroes on their quest. No such overarching antagonist exists within the unique Journey to the West as I bear in mind it, however maybe including a recurring villain helps tie collectively the disparate vignettes of the story.
Additionally, the second half of the opera options moments specializing in Zhu and Sha, permitting each to have heroic moments. I appreciated this, however I felt that Monkey misplaced a few of the highlight. While the vacationers are a four-man celebration, the Monkey King actually is the star of Journey to the West (sorry to say it, Sha Wujing stans), and his mischievous, witty antics set the memorable tone of lots of the novel’s episodes. Still, although the opera misplaced Monkey’s cheeky storybook humor within the center, the full of life choreography and motion made up for it considerably. Overall, it was a enjoyable capturing of the tales of the Monkey King and firm.
The forged of Monkey carried out a beautiful efficiency. Countertenor Chuanyuan Liu was lovably goofy as Monkey, with a robust, resonant voice. (The selection of countertenor for Monkey, particularly for anybody who’s seen the 1986 live-action model of Journey to the West.) Dylan Morrongiello pulled off the considerably critical Monk with gravitas and charisma, with a number of convincing dramatic moments. John Paul Huckle was a hoot, utilizing his deep, big-bodied voice (accompanied by many pig snorts) for Zhu’s many comedic moments in addition to a dramatic aria. Carami Hilaire as Mara the Demon Queen and Christian Maria Castro because the Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, each had been radiant and filled with presence on stage, opposing one another in story however complementing one another fantastically as musicians. Hilaire’s big selection from thundering and menacing to comfortable and tender was spectacular, and Castro’s sweetness and charm additionally had some sass to it. Maria Dominique Lopez portrayed Sha (right here tailored as a feminine spirit) with a heat, full voice and an particularly robust low vary. The ensemble, which included a youngsters’s refrain from VOICES Boston, stuffed within the motion effectively. And after all, the puppeteers of Monkey, Zhu, and Sha had been thrilling to observe, well-synchronized with the singers, and filled with persona.
The manufacturing was visually gorgeous, with stunning units and costumes all through, although not with out some oddities. In specific, the Sha puppet was attractive — a floating head and fingers, with trailing white materials. Bold lighting and projections lit the stage, although some projections akin to movies of actors’ faces appeared misplaced. The CGI was fortunately used extra sparingly than in final yr’s Cosmic Cowboy; however throughout a battle scene in the direction of the tip, the 3-D fashions’ low high quality distracted from the scene slightly than including to it. Finally, the “Kung Fu” within the title did seem within the opera, led by kung fu practitioner Lawrence Chan. He carried out in a scene transition and there was some kung fu in sure battle scenes (one with lightsticks!), however I didn’t discover the kung fu significantly well-integrated into the motion.
Despite all the fun and highs, the entire inventive product did really feel a bit unfocused. I didn’t understand a lot in the best way of an overarching theme or message — however I’m additionally undecided there wanted to be one. The elements didn’t match neatly into the entire, nevertheless. The curtain openers had been pretty however didn’t join effectively to Monkey. The “frame story” by no means got here again on the finish (so far as I bear in mind). The CGI was refined at first, however a miss when extra prevalent (although once more, higher than Cosmic Cowboy). The kung fu was stunning and culturally acceptable however didn’t really feel cohesive within the stage motion.
All that being mentioned, Monkey was a ton of enjoyable. It was a blast to observe and hearken to, full of pleasure and keenness. And for me as an Asian-American, it was fantastic to see a narrative uniquely from my very own cultural upbringing on stage in such a grand manufacturing. Really, there was a lot life in Monkey that I loved it only for what it was — a wild romp to the west, enlivened by colourful performances and brightly-scored motion, along with some old childhood buddies.
Julian Gau is a Boston-based freelancer and author with a grasp’s diploma in orchestral conducting from the Boston Conservatory. He serves as founder and conductor of the Horizon Ensemble, and resident conductor of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. He holds levels in music and arithmetic from Brown University.
Collage of Kathy Whitmann photographs under
