First a 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon, then a 2023 adaptation for a miniseries streaming on Showtime/Paramount and now an opera by contemporary composer, Gregory Spears, and librettist Greg Pierce.
Fellow Travelers focuses on a multi-decade romantic relationship between two gay men who meet during the height of the McCarthy era in the 1950s.
Billed as a look at the Red Scare tinted with lavender, the story follows the lives of Timothy Laughlin and Hawkins Fuller, who meet by chance through a serendipitous encounter. A zealous partisan in the crusade against Communism, Laughlin, a naïve college graduate, gets his first job through Fuller, a handsome State Department official with influential political ties.
As their budding romantic affair grows ever stronger, their lives and careers are threatened by the corrosive political climate that tests both men’s loyalties and convictions. Their love story is unduly influenced by what it takes the to survive by playing the risky game of secrecy foisted upon them by society.
 |
| Tenor Logan Wagner will sing the role of Timothy Laughlin in Pittsburgh Opera's Fellow Travelers |
In the Pittsburgh Opera production, opening at the Byham Theater on November 14, tenor Logan Wagner will tackle the role of Timothy Laughlin with baritone Erik Nordstrom singing the role of Hawkins Fuller. Both are resident artists with the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program.
Previously, the two singers teamed up in a production at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) in 2023, a performance that earned Wagner a nomination for "Best Performance" by Broadway World for his role as Laughlin.
“The biggest difference between the CCM performance and the one here in Pittsburgh is that there is a good deal more intimacy here in the Pittsburgh Opera production,” Wagner said. “Of course, neither production goes as far in this area as the TV series, but here in Pittsburgh we do explore the beginning stages of gay intimacy.”
The fact that both leads have been friends for a long time and previously starred in the same opera have made them comfortable working with each other, according to Wagner.
“The biggest thing for me to try to convey in Laughlin’s character is his hesitancy as well as his excitement about their relationship,” Wagner said. “Fortunately, I can relate to my character in that we both grew up in an Irish Catholic household and had similar backgrounds.”
Ironically, Fellow Travelers happens to be the first opera Wagner ever attended when he sat in the audience of the world premiere production by the Cincinnati Opera in 2016.
“I was green at the time, only 18 years old, and it was pretty much a life changer for me to see people like myself on stage,” he said.
Written for 10 artists singing 18 roles with a 17-musician chamber orchestra, the opera will be performed in the Byham Theatre in Downtown Pittsburgh. Wagner said the size of the house is similar to the one in which he first performed the role in Cincinnati.
“My role is a large one,” he said. “I’m in almost every scene, so pacing myself is critical. However, the smaller size of the venue allows me not to worry about projecting above the sound of the orchestra and out into the audience. This allows me to concentrate more on my acting and delivering the text.”
Those who have seen the TV series or read the book, might want to know that the opera doesn’t extend as far into the couple’s lives as the former two. The opera ends when Laughlin leaves Washington for San Francisco. Hawk Fuller goes back into the closet, and Laughlin’s life spirals downward until he eventually dies of AIDS.
“As an audience, we like everything tied up in a neat, pretty bow,” Wagner said. “But the opera is a horrible reminder of the oppression gay people went through during the McCarthy era and still do to this day. It shows what happens to us when we deny our true selves, and. I cry at every rehearsal.”
Some who’ve either read the book or watched the series often view Fuller as manipulative, self-centered and selfish. But Wagner sees his character somewhat differently.
“It was a scary time, and Laughlin forgives him, as I pretty much do,” he said.
A first-year artist with the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program, Wagner auditioned for the program three years ago.
"I was able to make a good impression, which led to a callback to audition for the 2025-26 Resident Artist class,” he said.
Eventually, as his singing improved and he ratcheted up his performance experience, he got admitted into the program. The fact that the Opera was planning to do Fellow Travelers, an opera in which he had previous sang one of the leads, also helped.
The RAF is a dream program for me,” he said. “It has a great way of helping young artists build their careers. Some of their work I saw was excellent, and when I told some of my colleagues I was admitted into the program, they said it was where I should be.”
Calling it one of the few programs that puts its resident artists on stage, Wagner will appear in four Pittsburgh operas this year.
 |
| Logan Wagner as Parpignol in Pittsburgh Opera's La Boheme Credit: David Bachman Photography |
He’s already performed as Parpignol in a recent staging of La Boheme. Yet to come are his debut as The Madwoman in Curlew River, Josè in the world premiere performance of Laura Kaminsky’s Time to Act and his debut as Fenton in Falstaff. And, of course, he’ll play Laughlin in Fellow Travelers.
As to Fellow Travelers, the young singer said he hopes the audience will come to know the period of time in which the opera is set and to better understand the issues gay people faced and still do to this day.
Fellow Travelers, a Pittsburgh opera production, is at the Byham Theatre, 101 6th St. in Downtown Pittsburgh, November 14, 15 and 16. For tickets, go to https://opera.culturaldistrict.org/.
Comments
Post a Comment