The opera, written and directed by Li Bao-chu, who also stars in it, is an adaptation of the famous opera of the same title by Verdi. This is the first time Li Bao-chun has adapted a Western opera into its Chinese counterpart. The main character in the original opera, Rigoletto the jester, is transformed into Li Yung-de, and the duke, Duca di Mantova, is now Lord Man-yue. The opera features a lustful lord who is a womanizer and is despised by all the court officials except for the jester Li Yung-de, who plays the jackal to the tiger. But when the lord becomes leery of Li’s daughter, Ji-er, and Ji-er falls in love with Lord Man-yue, Li Yung-de, whose advice is ignored by his daughter, decides to hire an assassin to kill the lord and gain revenge for all the deserted women and their families.

The vocal music for the opera was composed through the collaboration of Zhu Shao-yu, a renowned Chinese composer, and Chong Yiu-kwong, Director of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. They revised the famous “La donna è mobile”, an aria sung by the duke, as the theme song of the opera, performed by Dong Hong-sung, an up and coming actor specializing in hua (a male character with a painted face) who plays Lord Man-yue in the opera.

In the opera, Li Bao-chun, who excels in lao-sheng (an old male character), plays the clown. Huang Yu-lin, the “Little Queen of Beijing Opera in Taiwan”, plays a dual role in the opera. One of them as Qiao Ruo-fan the nanny is akin to the role of a female clown, and her funny and comical performance highlights her talent and versatility.