In January 2007, Thomas Mallon published his novel, “Fellow Travelers.” The story follows college graduate Timothy Laughlin, who moves to Washington, D.C., to join the fight against communism. There, he falls into a secret relationship with a State Department official during the anti-gay purge known as the Lavender Scare.
“It's a period in the 1950s in the U.S. where Sen. (Joseph) McCarthy led the charge to actually persecute and fire people that were suspected to be gay or queer in our government,” Andy Acosta, who plays Timothy, said.
Ten years later, composer Gregory Spears, librettist Greg Pierce and director Kevin Newbury created the opera adaptation, which has toured the country ever since. As part of this year’s tour, one stop is San Diego.
Acosta is a San Diego native who said he’s loved singing for as long as he can remember. He took over the role of Timothy soon after the novel was adapted into an opera.
“I'll never forget. I was a young artist, and I was in my college apartment, and I read through it beginning to end, and I was just in tears because, for me, it was the first time that I saw representation of myself in the art form that I love.”
The consortium, Up Until Now, created the tour, and the San Diego Opera is one of the many opera companies hosting the production across the country.
Unlike most opera productions, which typically feature a new cast, director and conductor each season, “Fellow Travelers” has retained much of the same creative team throughout the year.
David Bennett is the CEO of San Diego Opera. He said stories centered on queer people are still uncommon in opera.
“There are certainly gay characters, but stories that really focus on a gay couple is fairly rare. So, I'm thrilled about this opportunity.”
San Diego Opera has been presenting opera for 60 years, bringing talented artists from all over the world. This is the second time Acosta has worked with the company.
Acosta said this role gave him the chance to explore his own identity in a deeper way.
“The question that immediately came to my mind was: 'Am I going to be strong enough? Am I going to be courageous enough to tell this story as someone who was raised Catholic, as someone who does come from an immigrant family, as someone that has struggled with my connection with my family as a result of my queerness?'” Acosta said.
In every version of “Fellow Travelers,” Timothy grapples with his sexuality and his faith while living under government persecution.
Acosta said the opera reminds audiences that everyone carries multiple identities before we make assumptions about them.
“I think too often we're too quick to judge each other and put each other in a space where we're unwilling to hear each other's side,” Acosta said. “I think the beauty of life is the curiosity about one another’s stories because it's the thing that I think leads to the fulfillment of humanity. I think that is the point of life.”
Even though the opera will be performed at the historic Balboa Theatre, Bennet said there were some challenges.
“We're in this beautiful theater, but cramming all of the sets of this opera into this theater is a challenge, and because we are presenting it, not producing, that means that they're here together in the theater for a very short period of time.”
Usually, the company would spend three to four weeks preparing in the venue, but in this case it has only one.
Bennett wants people not to feel intimidated by opera. He said every production tells its story differently, and “Fellow Travelers” is a particularly powerful example.
“It's devastating, the music is gorgeous, it's an American story of our time, and it's a story of two men in love,” Bennett said. “So, those are things that we don't often find in opera. And I walked away from it just so excited to be able to bring this to San Diego and have people see what this kind of opera can be like.”
The same consortium that organized the tour also created The Lavender Names Project, in partnership with the American LGBTQ+ Museum. The project collects stories of queer people who lost their jobs because of discrimination.
Their portraits appear at the end of each “Fellow Travelers” performance as a living memorial.
“And 10 years ago, when it was originally produced, that was all stock photography. But now each portrait is a person that actually lost their jobs because of being openly gay. And many of them in this production that you'll see on stage are people from San Diego,” Bennett said.
This is especially important because of San Diego’s large military population, where many service members lost their jobs under the military’s "Don't Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which was in effect from 1994 to 2011.
Acosta said he hopes this show makes people feel seen.
“My hope always is that some person comes into this show and says, ‘Oh my God, this reminds me of myself,’ or “I wish I would have seen this years ago,’ or ‘I was that person on that stage,’ or ‘This is what my son is going through,’ or ‘I should come back and bring my nephew, who I know maybe is exploring themselves but hasn't quite seen that themselves reflected.”
“Fellow Travelers” runs July 10-12 at Balboa Theater. Performance times vary.
