Fellow Travelers by MN Opera at the Cowles Center

This artistic age we are currently in has such fascinating links to the 1980's. AIDS was a crisis, and the LGBT community was fighting for their rights and for recognition against a government that was doing everything it could do squash and deny those rights. Tony Kushner's incredible work "Angels in America" is set in the 1980's. One of the characters in that work is Roy Cohn, who worked for Joseph McCarthy. Fellow Travelers, an opera by Gregory Spears, libretto by Greg Pierce based on the self-named book by Thomas Mallon) takes place during the Eisenhower administration and has Joseph McCarthy as a main character. It is an incredibly gorgeous and moving work that spotlights a time in the community's past that has been overlooked - the Lavender Scare.

The Lavender Scare was just like the Red Scare that McCarthy is really known for, except instead of looking and finding communists everywhere, he was looking and finding homosexuals everywhere. Fellow Travelers is a story about Timothy Laughlin (Andres Acosta) and his relationship with Hawkins Fuller (Hadleigh Adams). Timothy works for a newspaper but after meeting Hawkins in a park in Dupont Circle, he finds himself moving up in the world of the government and working for Senator Potter, and eventually McCarthy. The conflict is that Timothy is in his first full blown same-sex relationship with Hawkins. I find it interesting that Angels in America is also about a man (Joe Pitt) working for a uber-conservative bigot (Roy Cohn) while having his first same-sex relationship. It is timely that both of these works are being presented currently. Both of them deal with how to navigate being true to yourself and your heart in a very difficult political environment. Both stories are bittersweet in certain ways, yet so smart and moving.

The music by Gregory Spears is romantic yet modern with hints of minimalism (think John Adams more than Philip Glass). While I would consider this to be a chamber opera (cast of nine, orchestra of 17), the music was gorgeously moving and soaring at points, jagged and jarring when needed, and included some incredible vocal lines. There is a scene towards the end of Act One that takes place at a Christmas party. Never have I heard standard Christmas Carols deconstructed in such a stunning way. The original story kept me intrigued and was moving while not being depressing - like many stories about the LGBT experience in the 50's. It made me very interested in reading the novel, and exploring the works of Thomas Mallon. Greg Pierce's libretto was fantastic. Sometimes opera in English can be difficult to understand due to how the libretto and music are linked. This was not one of those. Every word was placed perfectly with the note and emotion, while staying true to the character. The opera as a work was stunning and gorgeous.

The production was also stunning and gorgeous. The intimate Cowles Center is perfectly suited to dance, but also to this work. The stage pieces (set/drops by Sara Brown) were fluid and worked so well with the incredible lighting (Mary Shabatura) and costuming (Trevor Bowen). The whole production was directed by Peter Rothstein with his standard precision and flair. Honestly, if you have any chance to see a work directed by Rothstein, just go - I guarantee you will not be disappointed. He has such skill with actors and stage pictures.

I'm truly at a loss for words when it comes to the performers. Every performance and character was perfectly played and sung. Most of the cast were making their MN Opera debut and I look forward to seeing them again. The two leads were not only wonderful to watch and gorgeous to look at, but their voices were amazing. Andres Acosta has a stunning fluid tenor voice that is angelic. His voice mixed with the thrilling baritone of Hadleigh Adams made for two hours of pure heaven. Throw in the rest of the cast and you have pure perfection. These performers are ones that I look forward to hearing more from and I trust that MN Opera will keep them coming back. All in all, this was a gorgeous and moving opera that I hope is being recorded at some point as more people need to hear it. I believe that any artistic experience that drives the audience into learning more about the performers, or subject matter is a success. With that belief in hand, and beautiful moments in memory (Acosta's aria in the church for one), I would rate this production as being a success for sure! The standing ovation by the non-standard opera audience would confirm that for me as well.

note: the term "fellow traveller" is mentioned in the libretto as being from a poem (which I can't locate at this time), yet it also has a very interesting history.