A Conversation with Kevin Newbury

Kevin Newbury, Stage Director of Fellow Travelers. © Marcus Shields

This February, Seattle Opera will present Fellow Travelers, one of the most frequently performed new operas of the past decade, in collaboration with New York-based artistic collective Up Until Now, as part of a national project that brings this important story to stages across the country. We sat down to chat with Kevin Newbury, Director of Fellow Travelers, about his experience bringing this story to life over the last 10 years, the importance of telling queer stories, and how this show continues to impact audiences.  

Seattle Opera: You've been with this story since the beginning, tell us how this book became an opera

Kevin Newbury: I have been with the Fellow Travelers opera from the very beginning of the journey. My friend, Sterling Zinsmeyer, who's a producer, handed me Tom Mallon's novel right after it came out in 2007. He said, "You have to read this. This story must be an opera, and you need to direct it." I immediately fell in love with the main characters, Tim and Hawk and Mary. And I didn't know very much about the Lavender Scare or about this period in history when I read the book, so I also learned a lot.

We got right to work and commissioned Gregory Spears, the composer, and Greg Pierce, the librettist. We reached out to Tom Mallon and got the rights. And we premiered the opera at Cincinnati Opera in 2016. So, this is our 10th anniversary, and we are launching our 10th anniversary tour here at Seattle Opera.

Seattle Opera: What was the Lavender Scare, how did it manifest in government work, and why were LGBTQ+ people targeted?

Kevin Newbury: The Lavender Scare refers to one of the great witch hunts in American history. In April 1953, President Eisenhower issued an executive order that said it was illegal to be gay (what we would call LGBTQ+ now) and work in the US government. They considered sexual perversion to be a threat to national security. And 5,000+ men and women were fired from government service for either being queer or being rumored to be queer.

And Senator McCarthy, Joe McCarthy, was behind this. We think of communism as being the central tenet of McCarthyism, but the Lavender Scare was actually much bigger. They went after a lot more queer people than they did alleged communists. So it was the systematic persecution and firing of queer people across our government institutions.

Seattle Opera: Can you talk a little about how files were kept on people, how ironic it is that these files are hard to find or nonexistent now, and how that’s visually integrated into the show?

Kevin Newbury: One of the great ironies of this time period of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare in the early '50s is that it was all about keeping files on people, keeping records, spying on people, filing away their stories. And the great irony is that these files have never been released; many have been destroyed or hidden away. It sounds almost impossible to think that they would release these files now.

So, it's more important than ever to share these stories, collect these stories, and shed light on our shared LGBTQ+ history. Our current administration is actively attempting to erase our history, so it makes Fellow Travelers more important than ever.

These files date back to World War II. That was when these anti-gay policies were codified and introduced all the way through the Lavender Scare —the Don't Ask, Don't Tell period. And sadly, this current moment when so many people in our queer community, especially our trans and non-binary brothers and sisters are losing their jobs and getting banned from the military and being spied on and reported on. This is kind of a second Lavender Scare that we're living through.

Seattle Opera: Tell us about the Lavender Names Project.

Kevin Newbury: One of the most exciting parts of this Fellow Travelers project is something we're calling the Lavender Names Project. We are collecting photos and stories from queer people across the country and their chosen family, their relatives—some of these folks are no longer with us. It's the largest ever archival research and community outreach initiative to remember our history that I know of. And these photos and stories will live on stage at the end of the opera in a visual memorial. They will end up at the end of the tour at the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City. This is a collaboration with the museum and archival researchers and universities and libraries all across the country, including the Library of Congress, the Lambda Archives in San Diego, and many other incredible organizations.

I'm really honored to be spearheading this with my team. So, if you know anyone that has ever been prosecuted or fired or subject to harassment at the hands of federal, local government, or the military, please do share your story or share your loved one’s story, because it would be an honor to include and remember.

Seattle Opera: Do you have a particular story from the Lavender Names Project that really resonated with you?

Kevin Newbury: I've been connecting with people all over the country through this Lavender Names Project, including Colonel Bree Fram, this amazing trans woman. Colonel Bree Fram was the highest-ranking trans officer in the armed forces, and she was fired in 2025 during this administration's ban on trans folks in the military, and she just announced that she's running for Congress in the state of Virginia.

We're so honored to share Bree's story in the Lavender Names Project alongside queer legends like Frank Kameny, who is the godfather of gay rights; he lost his job after working as an astronomer in the US government in the late 1950s. And Bree Fram also worked in aeronautics or astronomy, whatever you call it. So, it's kind of chilling that we've come full circle to this moment when brilliant people that want to serve their country are fired or not allowed to enlist or to run for office, whatever it might be, because they're LGBTQ+. I mean, we've made so much progress over the years, and our rights are in danger right now across the board in this country, and it's more important than ever to fight for them.

Seattle Opera: You’ve been directing this show since its inception, how have you seen its impact differ as it’s performed in big and small cities across the country?

Kevin Newbury: Fellow Travelers has been all over the country. I like to say that we have performed in America's biggest cities and in her heartland. And everywhere we go, the show has such an impact. We have sold something like 25,000 tickets across these 14 productions. We're so excited to bring the opera to cities and communities that haven't seen it yet and we'll also be returning to some cities that have hosted their production.

Seattle Opera: How have you seen people impacted by this story?

Kevin Newbury: One of the great things about Fellow Travelers, the opera, is that people stay in the lobby after the show for as long as they can, and all of these incredible intergenerational stories and conversations unfold. I've heard people come out to their family members in the lobby, or say "This happened to my grandfather in the 1950s, but he was never able to talk about it before he died." So, it's a very cathartic, moving experience for people.

We did the production in Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia Opera in 2023. And Norfolk's a fairly conservative military town, and we had this wonderful contingent from NATO that came to our dress rehearsal. And on opening night, this woman ran up to me, and she was crying and she said, "Kevin, can I give you a hug?" And I said, "Of course you can." I'm always open for a hug.

She said, "I have to tell you that my husband and I were at the dress rehearsal, and my daughter is trans and my husband and my daughter have not been speaking for two years. And after the dress rehearsal, he called her up; she's moved back in and they haven't stopped talking for two days. He changed his mind and you've saved my family."

That kind of impact is just such an honor to be part of a show that opens hearts and minds and encourages people to be more open.

Seattle Opera: This story began as a look back at a moment in history, but it's becoming clear this era hasn't remained in our past. What makes this story so relevant right now?

Kevin Newbury: Unfortunately, we're living through a second Lavender Scare. There are so many people in our country that are being targeted right now, but speaking about the LGBTQ+ community, our government is actively trying to erase our history. Our government is taking over our cultural institutions in DC, cutting funding for the arts, so a story like this is sadly more important than ever. I often say that this is the right piece for whatever time this is, because I would not call it the “right” time. And as a queer kid growing up in Auburn, Maine, at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and '90s, I never saw any representation of the queer community other than the endless news cycle about gay people dying from HIV and AIDS.

So it's more important than ever for me to share this gay love story. And showcasing intimacy between men or same sex intimacy on stage has always been really important to me, so people can see themselves represented. And the show—it's a sexy show. Can I say sexy? I mean, Heated Rivalry is the most popular show in the world right now. The Fellow Travelers miniseries was also very charged.

Hopefully the opera doesn't disappoint in delivering a story that really portrays love between two men in an honest way, physically and emotionally. And we need these stories more than ever right now.

Seattle Opera: What does telling this story mean for you as a queer director?

Kevin Newbury: Wow. If I could go back and tell my closeted, queer, teenage self that I would be building a career as a director across mediums—I direct opera, theater, film, television—and telling queer stories is just... I feel like it's my mission in life.

I love intergenerational conversations. I love to spend time with other queer folks and our allies, from kids in their early 20s that are just coming out and realizing who they are to people my age, to my friends and in their 80s and 90s, and all the new friends that I always meet throughout the course of this production.

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a queer artist, making work at this very difficult moment for our country. And I believe in the power of art to build community. I believe that we stand on the shoulders of the people that came before us who fought so hard for us to have the rights that we have now. And I believe in the power of a really good love story. And Fellow Travelers is first and foremost a really beautiful love story, and it connects with audiences from all sorts of backgrounds, generations, and political persuasions.

Even though it takes on some serious issues and this kind of scary moment in our history serves as the backdrop for this story, the show is also really funny and really moving, and it moves at a really fast pace. It feels more like a Broadway musical than an opera in some ways. It has a lot of excitement, a lot of action, and I can't wait to see you all at the theater. I'm going to be at all the shows, so if you see me in the lobby, tell me what you think and come and share your love story.

Seattle Opera: Anything else you'd like to share or add that you want our audiences to hear?

Kevin Newbury: The music in Fellow Travelers is so beautiful. Greg Spears's score is lush, romantic, tuneful. It just invites audiences in, and it's such a wonderful experience to be in the theater with Greg's gorgeous music. And Greg Pierce's libretto is so taught and funny and insightful and romantic. And so the combination of Greg and Gregory's talents just lift up this story in such a beautiful theatrical way. Thomas Mallon's novel is wonderful. The opera is just such an exciting piece of theater. And then of course, the miniseries was also fabulous and the miniseries brought the story to even more people around the country and you can experience them in whatever order you want.

Come to the opera first and then read the novel and then see the miniseries or watch the miniseries and then come to the opera. But I just love that this opera has been around for 10 years and that the story continues to reach audiences across the country and hopefully across the world. Our plan is to take it everywhere.

 

Fellow Travelers is on stage February 21–March 1, 2026 at McCaw Hall. Learn more and buy tickets at seattleopera.org/fellowtravelers.