The "Lavender Scare" on the operatic stage: Gregory Spears' 2016 Fellow Travellers to get its European semi-professional premiere from University College Opera

Say Fellow Travellers to anyone and they will probably think of the TV mini-series featuring Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer that debuted in 2023. But the TV series was based on the 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon and before the TV series, Mallon's book was adapted into an opera.

Composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pearce's Fellow Travellers debuted in 2016 at Cincinnati Opera. The opera was developed by Opera Fusion: New Works, a collaboration between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music which focuses on the creation of new American operas. Since then, the work has had several American performances but the work's European semi-professional premiere will be presented by University College Opera on 28 and 29 March 2025.

The story is set in 1950s Washington D.C. during the "Lavender Scare," a period of intense persecution of homosexuals in the U.S. government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign which is known as McCarthyism. 

The opera follows the complex relationship between a recent college graduate and devout Catholic eager to join the crusade against communism, and a handsome State Department official. Their encounter is placed against the intensification of Senator McCarthy's investigations into "sexual subversives". 

The opera beautifully captures the emotional turmoil and societal pressures faced by gay men in this era, highlighting the personal and political consequences of their forbidden love. It has been praised for its evocative music and compelling storytelling. 

The persecution of homosexuals as part of the "Lavender Scare" is certain is a chapter of American history that is not as well-known as it should be, and in the present climate the story is alarmingly prescient.

The conductor is Matt Scott Rogers (music director at University College London), and the director is Eleanor Strutt, with producer Max Guida and designer Sasha Owen. The cast includes Stephen Whitford alongside cast and orchestra drawn from UCL’s student body.

University College Opera presents Gregory Spears' Fellow Travellers at the Bloomsbury Theatre, 28 & 29 March 2025. Full details from the University College Opera website.