The infrequently presented work has drawn both protests and praise since its 1991 debut. It uses the 1985 hijacking of the Mediterranean cruise ship Achille Lauro by members of the "Palestine Liberation Front," who singled out disabled Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, shot him in his wheelchair and had crewmembers throw him and his wheelchair overboard, as a vehicle for portraying Palestinian and Israeli political positions.

Five opera companies (including the Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera and Brooklyn Academy of Music) originally commissioned the work which debuted in Brussels, Belgium and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1991. The San Francisco Opera performance drew protests from Jewish groups; the Los Angeles Opera canceled its planned performance. There have been intervening performances abroad in orchestral and semi-staged concerts. In 2001, the Boston Symphony Orchestra planned a performance which it canceled in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The work was performed in St. Louis in 2011.

The performance by the Long Beach Opera will be its L.A. area premiere after bring dropped by production by the Los Angeles Opera. LBO says its production is a partner presentation of the L.A. Philharmonic's "Minimalist Jukebox" Festival.

Long Beach Opera's website says it was founded in 1979 and receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the County of Los Angeles, and the City of Long Beach. The Long Beach Opera's website indicates tickets are being sold for from $29 to $160 each. The March 16 performance is at 7 p.m; the March 22 performance is at 2 p.m.