The trailblazing opera Fellow Travelers, based on Thomas Mallon’s best-selling 2007 novel, is undertaking a national, multi-year 10th anniversary tour.  It’s set against the backdrop of a forgotten chapter of LGBTQ+ history in Washington D.C., during the McCarthy era of the 1950s and it focuses on the “lavender scare“, a witch hunt and mass firings of gay people from the United States government. The story centers on the love affair between two men working for the federal government—Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller, a State Department official, and Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate working in a senator’s office.

They served their country. Their country fired them. And it’s still happening. From the McCarthy-era “Lavender Scare” to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to today’s trans military ban, LGBTQ+ Americans have faced decades of government persecution for who they are. The Lavender Names Project collects photos and stories of those affected, building a living memorial that appears on stage at every performance during the national, multi-year tour of the opera Fellow Travelers.

Created by composer Gregory Spears, librettist Greg Pierce, and director Kevin Newbury and published by Schott Music, Fellow Travelers premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016 and has secured its place in the canon, becoming one of the most critically-acclaimed and widely-produced operas of its generation – selling 40,000+ tickets over 14 productions from America’s biggest cities to her heartland.

The tour launched in February and March with performances at Seattle Opera and Portland Opera, where audiences rejoiced, and critics called it “sexy,” “intense,” “gorgeous,” and “refreshing.”  The tour continues this summer with performances at San Diego Opera (July 10-12) and New York’s Glimmerglass Festival (July 18-Aug. 16). 2027 performances begin with the opera’s Texas premiere at Austin Opera (Feb. 6-7).