Hundreds of characters have been cut, leaving just eight main figures in the final show, which runs from Saturday through Sept. 29 at San Francisco Opera. “You can’t win with this, no matter what you do,” Mr. Sheng said after a recent rehearsal. Realizing the inevitable weight of expectations, the San Francisco Opera enlisted a team of creative heavyweights, all of Asian descent, to create the $3 million production. Mr. Sheng wrote the libretto with David Henry Hwang, the Tony Award-winning playwright. The opera may then face a tougher, more discerning audience among those even more familiar with the book, but Mr. Sheng seemed unfazed.

Source: New York Times September 09, 2016 22:07 UTC