Set during the 1950s “Lavender Scare,” Fellow Travelers follows two men whose romantic involvement becomes a dangerous secret in an era of government surveillance and fear. Recognized as one of the most widely performed and talked-about new American operas of the past decade, Fellow Travelers is based on Thomas Mallon’s acclaimed novel (recently adapted as a CBS/Paramount+ limited series).

Fellow Travelers

The Alice Busch Opera Theater

Based on Thomas Mallon’s novel which recently became an acclaimed Showtime miniseries. Timothy Laughlin is an idealistic college grad when he arrives in Washington DC to join the fight against communism. But a chance encounter with a handsome State Department official leads to a secret love affair and heart-wrenching dilemmas. The year is 1953, and Senator McCarthy isn’t just looking for communists anymore. Hearing the score Opera Magazine calls “seductively beautiful,” you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the work the Chicago Tribune calls “one of the most accomplished new American operas.”

EPSG:4326

Balboa Theatre

In this opera, the chorus has the starring role. Composer Gregory Spears, whose music has been called “astonishingly beautiful” (The New York Times), “coolly entrancing” (The New Yorker), and “some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory” (The Boston Globe), creates a labyrinthine soundscape to accompany a dream-like rendering of the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty,” inspired by modernist writer Robert Walser.

Sleepers Awake

Academy of Music

A powerful and deeply moving historic snapshot, Fellow Travelers is set amidst the Lavender Scare of midcentury McCarthyism, when persecution of LGBTQ+ people within the Federal government was rampant. This modern lyric opera is about the bravery it takes to be one’s authentic self, even when society demands secrecy and silence.  

Portland'5 Centers for the Arts

Recent college graduate Timothy Laughlin arrives in 1950s Washington, D.C., ready to join the fight against Communism. A chance encounter with the handsome State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, results in Tim's first job and his first romantic relationship with a man. As Tim struggles to reconcile his newfound love with his political, personal, and religious beliefs, Hawkins comes under the watchful eye of McCarthyism and faces charges that could cost him his job and his freedom. Both men must make impossible choices as they struggle to survive the Lavender Scare.

Seattle Center

The 2025 Studio Artist Program will present two performances of Paul’s Case, a two-act opera based on the short story By Willa Cather.

Paul’s Case follows a high school student living in Pittsburgh at the turn of the century. After getting expelled from school his father forces him to give up being an usher at Carnegie Music Hall, which he loves, and get a paying job. Feeling confined by his teachers, his father, and the dull middle-class life in Pittsburg, he steals the company’s weekend deposit and takes a train to New York City. He uses the money to buy a new wardrobe and books himself a room at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In the city Paul meets a freshman from Yale who takes him around the city. He is enthralled with the luxuries and excitement of city life, but it doesn’t take long for his escape to come to an end.

Paul’s Case

Stevens Square Community Center

This performance will showcase selected scenes from Gregory Spear’s opera Fellow Travelers, based on the 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon (and adapted into a mini series in 2023).

Fellow Travelers delves into a secret, gay love affair between Hawkins Fuller and Tim Laughlin in Washington DC during the Lavender Scare in 1950s. Then, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s relentless pursuit of suspected communists and gays within the US Government led to mass dismissals, horrendous persecution and tragedy.

This concert will showcase duet scenes between the two lovers, accompanied by Coady Green and Kevin Tamanini on the piano. It stars Boyd Owen (tenor) as Tim Laughlin and Adrian Tamburini (bass-baritone) as Hawkins Fuller.

November Concert: Fellow Travelers

Horti Hall

David struggles to reconcile spiritual humility with ambition. His desire for more wreaks havoc on his family, friendships and, perhaps, his own faith. His journey from preacher to Governor, like the lives of those closest to him, is shaped by the current affairs of the 1980s.

The Righteous

Santa Fe Opera

The West Coast Premiere of a deeply romantic masterpiece entwining loyalty, passion, and forbidden love amidst ‘The Lavender Scare’ of the 1950’s.

Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte leads off this concert centered on Mozart’s Requiem and featuring Gregory Spears’ proffered completion of the great composer’s unfinished work. The Westminster Symphonic Choir returns to Richardson Auditorium to perform with the PSO. 

Mozart's Requiem

Princeton University

It’s 1953, and the city of Washington D.C. crackles with suspicion of Red and Lavender. Recent college graduate Timothy Laughlin arrives eager to join the fight against communism, unaware that the city’s fear and secrecy will challenge all he believes and desires.

Gregory Spears

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 7 Feb, 2027

Fellow Travelers · Austin Opera

Past events

Jul 18 - Aug 16, 2026

Fellow Travelers · Glimmerglass Festival

10 - 12 Jul, 2026

Fellow Travelers · San Diego Opera

About

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