The Monkey King has made his way to the United States. "Monkey: Journey to the West", a musical collaboration based on the classic 16th century story, has opened the Lincoln Center Festival in New York.

'Monkey: Journey to the West' opens Lincoln Center Festival

With its stunning martial arts and animation from the creators of the band Gorillaz, the show is creating quite a buzz among American audiences.

This year's Lincoln Center Festival has a visually stunning start with "Monkey: Journey to the West".

Based on the classic Chinese folk-tale "Journey to the West" which dates from 1592, the story revolves around a mischievous monkey who goes on a magical journey from China to India with a monk, in search of sacred Buddhist scriptures.

The dazzling production fills the stage of the David H. Koch Theater with actors, singers, martial artists and acrobats in colourful costumes accompanied by stunning visuals and full-scale animation.

Although many of the American audience members are not familiar with the story, it certainly seems like they are enjoying it.

Although it's a Chinese story, the production team is international, with the piece conceived and directed by renowned film and opera director Chen Shizheng. The music is written by Damon Albarn, lead singer of Blur, with the design and animation by award-winning artist Jamie Hewlett, who, together with Albarn, created the virtual band Gorillaz.

"Monkey: Journey to the West" created a sensation when it made its debut at the first Manchester International Festival in the UK in 2007. This time, the show will run throughout the Lincoln Center Festival with 27 performances.

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