David Gockley in 2008; and Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli's "Heart of a Soldier" in 2011. The company also presented the West Coast premieres of Rachel Portman's "The Little Prince" and Jake Heggie's chamber opera "Three Decembers". San Francisco Opera also presented three world premieres in 2013: Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison’s "The Secret Garden", based on the children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett in conjunction with UC Berkeley's Cal Performances; Mark Adamo’s "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene"; and Tobias Picker and J.D. McClatchy’s "Dolores Claiborne", based on the novel by Stephen King. San Francisco Opera will present the world premieres
Frances Hodgson Burnett evening salon and soon attracted visitors, meeting Stephen Townsend for the first time. Despite her busy schedule, she felt ill from the heat and the crowds of tourists, spending protracted periods in bed. With her sons, she moved on to spend the winter in Florence, where she wrote "The Fortunes of Philippa Fairfax", the only book to be published in England but not in the United States. That winter "Sara Crewe or What Happened at Miss Minchin's" was published in the United States. She would go on to make "Sara Crewe" into a stage play, and later rewrite the story