The story of Pvt. Danny Chen, the Chinese American soldier who was found dead with a bullet to his head after enduring relentless hazing and racial harassment from his fellow soldiers, is set to become an opera from playwright David Henry Hwang: Victim of Military Hazing to Be Immortalized in Opera.
The Washington National Opera has commissioned a one-hour opera based on the life and death of Private Chen, entitled An American Soldier. Written by Hwang and composer Huang Ruo, the work is an attempt to fuse high culture with social awareness about the tragedy behind Danny Chen's death:
