Is Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers an opera that moves us, or is it a document of a decade we prefer to forget, and to ignore its aftermath?
The opera is in fact a fictional docudrama of an unfortunate era. It attempts to balance a tricky human consequence with a sensational rehashing of the 1950’s Lavender Scare aka McCathyism, made relevant to contemporary sentiment by its vehement references to Donald Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn, as well as, by implication, to the current “Department of War.”
While Thomas Mallin’s book Fellow Travelers is copyright 2007, the opera premiered in 2016, Donald Trump having announced his candidacy for president tin 2015. The opera was to be a part of the Washington National Opera’s 2025/26 season, but was withdrawn for obvious reasons. It has been rescheduled for 2028, the WNO no longer a resident of the Kennedy Center.
The opera has already been seen in thirteen cities in the United States. This current 10th anniversary production began in Seattle, traveling to Portland and San Diego. Now, at Glimmerglass, its only continuing cast members are the two protagonists (lead photo): Hawk played by baritone Joseph Lattanzi and Timmy played by tenor Colin Alkins (one of the two Timmy’s in the Seattle cast).
New in the Glimmerglass production were all the other roles. Of particular note was the role of Mary Johnson, splendidly rendered by soprano Keely Futterer. The balance of the large ensemble of characters that realized the complex drama were very effectively portrayed by the Glimmerglass Festival’s Resident Artists, i.e. its young artist program.
Essentially Hawk happens on Timmy seated on a park bench, they connect, We witness a sexual encounter. When Hawk reveals himself as a “chicken hawk” (an older guy who stalks young men), Timmy throws him out and joins the army to forget him. Hawk meanwhile marries Lucy so that he may enjoy the fruits of domestic life. Timmy returns filled with sympathy for the Hungarians revolting against the Soviets. He and Hawk, still in love, set up a love nest though Hawk cannot reconcile himself to only occasional encounters with the man he loves. To effect an irreconcilable end to the relationship he informs Timmy’s prospective employer that Timmy is gay (remember, this is the 1950’s). Timmy and Hawk meet on a park bench. Love music soars from the pit in a final blast of dramatic irony.
This is but the tip of the iceberg. Librettist Greg Pierce, with composer Spears, has constructed a libretto that goes far beyond the simple story outlined above, adding both the political background of Washington D.C. at that time, as well as a social context for the opera’s happenings, specifically two women, the sympathetic Mary Johnson and the treacherous Miss Lightfoot. Fortunately the graphic sexual encounter between two males occurs near the beginning of the opera so that any spectator/voyeur discomfort is quickly put aside.
Composer Gregory Spears looks back into the richness of voices through the centuries, his vocal lines in constant ornamentation — be it chant, in melisma, in Baroque turns, in bel canto fioratura. Interestingly he makes much use of Wagner’s “Liebestod” mordent in his love music. All of this richness plays against a continuous minimalist beat, real or implied, in various meters. Adding to the emotional impact of his style is the use of Brittenesque repeated notes to create tension.
The virtuosity of composition extends from the single voice into the duet-ing of voices in a complex interplay of phrases, and to ensembles of four to eight singers that succeed in expressing individual character within a massive texture of interwoven sounds.
Gregory Spears orchestra for Fellow Travelers is 2 trombones that have the responsibility for its frequent big statements. To this he adds a flute, oboe and clarinet, and very minimal strings (3,3,2,2,1) for colors, plus a piano whose office is often his repeated notes. It is a gruff, old sound that does not want to be sumptuous, keeping us on edge and prone to emotionally perceiving the libretto’s inherent ironies.
Gregory Spears often works with stage director Kevin NewBury, widely know to American audiences through his minimalist staging of Santa Fe Opera’s production of composer Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. This Santa Fe production traveled to eight or so American cities, gaining a fine polish evident at its culmination in San Francisco. This Seattle prepared production of Fellow Travelers had as well the polish of a seasoned production.
Michael Milenski
Hawkins Fuller: Joseph Lattanzi; Timothy Laughlin: Colin Atkins; Mary Johnson: Keely Futterer; Miss Lightfoot: Kaileigh Reiss; Senator Joseph McCarthy: Luke Harnish;; Lucy: Laura Santamaria; Tommy McIntyre: Erik Nordstrom; Senator Charles Potter: Yichen Xue; Priest: Jose Olivares.
Conductor: Kelly Kuo; Stage Director: Kevin Newbury; Associate Director & Intimacy Director: Sara E. Widzer; Set Designer: Vita Tzykun; Costume Designer: Devario D. Simmons; Lighting Designer: Thomas C. Hase.
Alice Busch Opera Theater, Glimmerglass Festival, Cooperstown, NY. August 1, 2026
All photos courtesy of the Glimmerglass Festival.