Up Until Now announces a national, multi-year 10th anniversary tour of the trailblazing opera Fellow Travelers that will bring this important story to more than 10 cities in 2026 and 2027, in one of the largest consortium projects ever attempted in the U.S. opera industry.  This special initiative launches in 2026 with Seattle Opera (February 21-March 1) and Portland Opera (March 7-15), then travels to San Diego Opera (July 10-12) and New York’s Glimmerglass Festival (July 18-Aug. 16).

Based on Thomas Mallon’s best-selling 2007 novel, the opera tells “a deeply human love story” (Chicago Tribune) set against the backdrop of a forgotten chapter of LGBTQ+ history known as the “Lavender Scare.” Created by composer Gregory Spears, librettist Greg Pierce, and director Kevin Newbury and published by Schott Music, Fellow Travelers, premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016 (The New York Times: Best of Classical Music, 2016) and has secured its place in the canon, becoming one of the most critically-acclaimed and widely-produced operas of its generation – selling 25,000+ tickets over 14 productions from America’s biggest cities to her heartland.

In addition to the 10th anniversary tour, Fellow Travelers broadens its impact through the Lavender Names Project, a collaboration with the American LGBTQ+ Museum, shedding light on LGBTQ+ history and building community around the country.  This nationwide, grassroots archival research and community outreach initiative will galvanize libraries, universities and LGBTQ+ organizations in each city. The Lavender Names Project will collect photos and stories of members of the LGBTQ+ community who were systematically discriminated against, fired and mistreated by federal and local governments in the United States, including the military, from the "Lavender Scare" in 1953, to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the 1990s, to today.   The tour includes curated lobby installations for each performance venue which will feature these collected stories and exhibits detailing the history of the Lavender Scare.

“The national tour of Fellow Travelers and the Lavender Names Project arrives at a moment when we are experiencing a dramatic rise in systemic attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the United States and a deliberate attempt to erase LGBTQ+ history,” said Newbury. “We are asking members of our community to share their stories at americanlgbtqmuseum.org so that we may uncover and preserve this history. The photos will be part of an ever-growing visual archive that will appear on stage at the end of each performance as a living memorial to the many LGBTQ+ people who suffered this decades-long persecution.”

If you or someone in your family – including chosen family –  have ever been fired from a Federal or local government job for being LGBTQ+, including the United States military,  we invite you to share your story — or your loved one’s story —  alongside a photo that will be included in our archive and our onstage photo installation. Please note that we will accept any photos, but we encourage high-resolution if possible. We prefer an official government photo, a photo in uniform or a formal portrait.