Damon Albarn premiered his new opera ‘Monkey: A Journey To The West’ last night (November 12th) with ex-members of Blur Graham Coxon and Alex James in attendance.
The new opera was created by Albarn and long time Gorillaz collaborator Jamie Hewlett. An acclaimed graphic artist, Hewlett’s visual brilliance combined with Albarn’s songcraft to great effect in the performance.
The show was created with the assistance of Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng, and is staged inside a specially designed tent. The new show has acrobats performing on wires high above the heads of the audience, with the characters telling the ancient Chinese story onstage.
The opera opened on November 8th, but last night (November 12th) marked its official premiere. In attendance were Mos Def, actor Simon Pegg and TV star Gok Wan.
‘Monkey: Jounrey To The West’ is now performing in London.
