Seattle Opera will present the world premiere of The Wedding Banquet, a new comic opera inspired by the beloved 1993 film directed by Ang Lee and the re-imagined version by director Andrew Ahn that debuted to widespread acclaim earlier this year.
The opera, co-commissioned and co-produced with The Metropolitan Opera, is composed by Huang Ruo (Bound, ’23) with a libretto by screenwriter James Schamus, who co-wrote both films. Seattle Opera General and Artistic Director James Robinson will direct the production. When The Wedding Banquet opens in January 2027, it will be the first opera written by an Asian American composer presented on Seattle Opera’s mainstage. After its world premiere at Seattle Opera, The Wedding Banquet will move to the Met Opera stage in New York City.
“When I first saw Ang Lee’s classic film many years ago, I knew immediately it would make a great opera,” said composer Huang Ruo, whose operas An American Soldier, M. Butterfly, and the upcoming The Monkey King have established him as one of the most important voices in contemporary opera. “The opera tells a heartfelt, human story that celebrates friendship and found family, queer love, and cultural identity. Given what these films have meant to me, I am thrilled now to be joining James Schamus and a new generation of artists reimagining this classic work for today through an operatic lens.”
Added Huang Ruo, “after working together on three of my previous operas, I’m very excited to collaborate with my dear friend Jim Robinson again on this new operatic journey in Seattle.”
This libretto will be the first written by James Schamus, whose credits as a screenwriter include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. “Having worked on both Ang Lee’s original film and Andrew Ahn’s recent re-imagining, I am excited about the surprising new discoveries we’ve made by adapting this story to the opera stage,” said Schamus. “Opera allows you to explore the inner lives of your characters in ways that cinema does not, so you have more access to their full range of emotional expression. The characters get to work out how they’re feeling in real time.”
The Wedding Banquet follows four friends facing turning points in their lives: Mei and Izzy, a lesbian couple struggling to conceive a child via IVF, and Chris and Min, a gay couple whose relationship is straining as Min’s student visa expires. When Min’s mother tells him it’s time to return to Korea to start a job in his father’s company or risk losing his inheritance, Min proposes a marriage of convenience with Mei to solve everyone’s problems. Frantically scrambling to plan their sham wedding, the four friends stumble through the minefield of cultural identity and family expectations as they try to carve out the lives they want to live.
“The Wedding Banquet is a rarity in the opera landscape: a new American comedy in an industry dominated by tragedy,” said General and Artistic Director James Robinson, who will direct the world premiere production. “But it also has plenty of heart. Audiences new to this story will find a touching tale of family, friendship, and acceptance, and those who love these films will appreciate the new dimension opera brings to the story. I am thrilled to collaborate with Huang Ruo and James Schamus to bring this new opera to the Seattle Opera stage.”
The rest of the creative team will include Set Designer Allen Moyer (The Flying Dutchman ’16), Lighting Designer Donald Holder (The End of the Affair ’05), and Seattle Opera debuts from Choreographer Sunny Hitt, Costume Designer Han Feng, and Projection Designer Greg Emetaz.
The Wedding Banquet is made possible with early support from the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation as Lead Production Sponsor.