July 10–12, 2026
Balboa Theatre
Music by Gregory Spears
Libretto by Greg Pierce
Directed by Kevin Newbury
Based on Thomas Mallon’s novel which recently became an acclaimed Showtime miniseries. Timothy Laughlin is an idealistic college grad when he arrives in Washington DC to join the fight against communism. But a chance encounter with a handsome State Department official leads to a secret love affair and heart-wrenching dilemmas. The year is 1953, and Senator McCarthy isn’t just looking for communists anymore. Hearing the score Opera Magazine calls “seductively beautiful,” you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the work the Chicago Tribune calls “one of the most accomplished new American operas.”
Performed with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
Season Sponsors
Prebys Foundation
City of San Diego
The San Diego Symphony Orchestra is supported, in part, by The Joan and Irwin Jacobs San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera Collaboration Fund.
Buy an Opera Package and Save!
Pair Fellow Travelers with The Barber of Seville (Feb 13–15) and Carmen (March 27–29) to save up to 19% off single ticket prices.
3-opera packages start at $149
Lavender Names Project
Are you a member of the LGBTQ+ community who has been impacted by employment discrimination by the government? The Fellow Travelers tour consortium is partnering with the American LGBTQ+ Museum on the Lavender Names Project, a nationwide community outreach initiative that wants to share your story. Your photo will be included in a visual archive that will appear on stage at the end of each performance.
Andy Acosta
Timothy Laughlin
“Brings such an endearing innocence to Tim as to set the heart alight.”
~Pioneer Press
Andy Acosta
(Timothy Laughlin)
San Diego Opera highlights: Clay in Eden; Javier in Dormir.
Recent and Upcoming: Nibbles in West Side Story (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Ismaele in Nabucco in Concert (Washington Concert Opera); Timothy Laughlin in Fellow Travelers (Virginia Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Madison Opera); Tony in West Side Story (Teartro Lirico di Cagliari); Dickson Sowerby in The Secret Garden (Hawaii Opera Theatre); Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Seattle Opera); Mr. Rodriguez in Awakenings (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Papi in The Snowy Day (Houston Grand Opera); Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood in Lucia di Lammermoor (Madison Opera); Lord Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera San Antonio); Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas (Pittsburgh Opera, Pensacola Opera, Jacobs School Of Music at Indiana University); Matteo Borsa in Rigoletto (Minnesota Opera).
Joseph Lattanzi
Hawkins Fuller
“Splendid as Hawk — his buttery baritone luxuriant and robust.”
~The New York Times
Joseph Lattanzi
(Hawkins Fuller)
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Pensacola Opera); Hawkins Fuller in Fellow Travelers (Seattle Opera, Opera Parallèle, Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera); Title role in Don Giovanni (Arizona Opera); Belcore in L’elisir d’amore (Minnesota Opera); Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd (Dayton Opera, The Atlanta Opera); Paul Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (San Francisco Opera); Sid in La fanciulla del West (Cleveland Orchestra); Silvio in Pagliacci (Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, The Atlanta Opera); Steward in Flight (Seattle Opera); Dandini in La Cenerentola (Virginia Opera, Arizona Opera); Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Cincinnati Opera); Lt. Audebert in Silent Night (Arizona Opera); Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Virginia Opera); Sonora in La fanciulla del West (Virginia Opera).
Amber R. Monroe
Mary Johnson
“Her voice is icily incisive, with warm resonances throughout her range.”
~The Opera Tattler
Amber R. Monroe
(Mary Johnson)
San Diego Opera Debut
Recent and Upcoming: Aida in Aida (Washington National Opera), Serena in Porgy and Bess (Washington National Opera); Lucienne in Die Tote Stadt (Boston Symphony Orchestra); Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem (National Philharmonic); Nedda in Pagliacci (Glimmerglass Festival, El Paso Opera); High Priestess in Aida (Baltimore Symphony), Mimì in La bohème (Chattanooga Symphony and Opera), Esther in Intimate Apparel (Arizona Opera), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Opera Columbus), Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Kentucky Opera), Clara in Porgy and Bess (Opera Western Reserve), Clarissa in Gregory Spears’s Castor and Patience (Cincinnati Opera), Harriet Tubman in Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom (Cleveland Opera Theater).
MORE CAST »
Felipe Prado
Gastone
Felipe Prado
Gastone
Tenor Felipe Prado made his Company debut as Remendado in 2019’s Carmen¸ and returned to sing the Second Villager in the world premiere of El último sueño de Frida y Diegoand Padre Matias in El milagro del recuerdo. Notable appearances include Spoletta in Tosca with Guild Opera, Borsa in Rigoletto and Gastone and Giuseppe in La traviata with Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Ridgecrest Opera Guild, and Alfredo in La traviata with Pacific Lyric Association. He has been a featured soloist for the concert Opera Highlights with the California Philharmonic Orchestra. As an active member of multiple professional ensembles such as the California Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale he has had the great honor to perform in great venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Warner Grand Theater, The Santa Anita Race Track, and the UCLA’s Royce Hall. In 2010 he joined the AVC Concert Choir and Master Chorale and took part in many concerts in a wide range of repertoire. In 2013 he started collaborating with several groups in Los Angeles area, such as the Pacific Palisades Symphony, Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic and Legal Voices among others. He also became part of the California Philharmonic Chorale as a chorister under the baton of Victor Vener and vocal direction of Marya Basaraba, and the Golden State Pops Orchestra.
Travis Sherwood
Baron Douphol
Travis Sherwood
Baron Douphol
San Diego Opera debut.
American Baritone, Travis Sherwood, has received praise for his powerful voice and emotionally poignant performances around the world as an opera singer, concert artist, and recitalist, performing a wide range of musical genres and styles.
On the operatic stage, Sherwood has sung for Amarillo Opera, Mississippi Opera, Aspen Opera Theater, Opera a la Carte, Princeton Festival, Bohème Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, and Opera New Jersey. On the concert stage, Sherwood has performed with the La Jolla Symphony, Southwest Symphony, Chatter Orchestra, Hunterdon Symphony, Symphony of the Vines, Canto Bello Chamber Orchestra, Monroe Symphony Orchestra, and La Sierra Symphony Orchestra. Sherwood has also enjoyed many collaborative recitals with distinguished pianists throughout the world.
Beyond performing, Sherwood enjoys teaching the next generation of singers. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice, Voice Area Coordinator, and Director of SDSU Opera Theatre on the faculty of San Diego State University.
DeAndre Simmons
Marchese D'Obigny
DeAndre Simmons
Marchese D’Obigny
Company appearances: Sciarrone in Tosca (2023), The Bonze in Madama Butterfly (2024)
American bass, DeAndre Simmons. Notable appearances: Amonasro, Aida (Portland Opera in the Park); Oroveso, Norma (NJ Verismo Opera); Padre Guardiano, La Forza del Destino (Atlantic Opera Festival); Alidoro, Cenerentola (Opera Philadelphia); Carbon, Cyrano (Opera Philadelphia); Soloist, Mozart Requiem (Santa Barbara Symphony); soloist, Beethoven Ninth (Santa Barbara Symphony); Boatman, Sunday in the park with George (CCAE Theatricals); soloist, Verdi Requiem (London Symphony); Caiaphas, Jesus Christ Superstar (Moonlight Theatre); soloist, World Childhood Fdn for HM Queens Silvia of Sweden; Recital, Die Winterreise (Chicago, NYC, LA, Berlin, Paris, London); soloist, Handel’s Messiah (Grand Junction Symphony); Ferrando, Il Trovatore (Astoria Music Festival); soloist, Haydn’s The Creation (Bar Choral Society & London Symphony); Grand Inquisitor, Candide (LA Philharmonic); Cal, Regina (Pacific Opera Victoria); Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte (Opera Panama); Recital, (Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris)
IG: @DeAndresVoice
Michael Sokol
Doctor Grenville
Michael Sokol
Doctor Grenville
Company appearances: Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance (2017), Ensemble, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (2018); soloist, When I See Your Face Again (2021); Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (2023), A Sacristan in Tosca (2023), Mr. Costello in Ghosts (2023).
Notable appearances: Metropolitan Opera; Philadelphia Orchestra; Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago; Frank Lloyd Wright, Shining Brow (Madison Opera); director, San Diego Summer Gilbert and Sullivan Workshop.
Bruce Stasyna
Conductor
“Multitalented conductor Bruce Stasyna, who is San Diego Opera’s resident conductor and chorus master, led the symphony with vigor and style.”
~The San Diego Union-Tribune
Bruce Stasyna
Conductor
San Diego Opera Highlights: Music Director, Pianist, Arranger and Chorus Master for Making Merry: A Choral Holiday Celebration; Conductor – As One; María de Buenos Aires; One Amazing Night with Stephen Costello and Stephen Powell; All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 Holiday Concert; One Amazing Night: When I See Your Face Again; Il barbiere di Siviglia; Così fan tutte; GRAMMY Greats Unite with Latonia Moore & J’nai Bridges.
Recent and Upcoming:
Chorus Master – New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Washington Concert Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Des Moines Opera; Conductor – New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Amalfi Coast Music Festival; Artistic Director and Principal Conductor – Green Mountain Opera Festival; Head of Music and Director of the Young Artist Program – Palm Beach Opera; Music Director – Vero Beach Opera.
Kevin Newbury
Director
"The music, libretto and sure-handed stage direction by Kevin Newbury create a tidal pull that rushes the action along and the audience’s sympathies with it. Mr. Newbury drew impressively vivid performances from a cast of excellent actors and maintained tension through swift scene changes."
~The New York Times
Kevin Newbury
Director
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Three PBS “Great Performances” Broadcasts: Bernstein’s MASS (Ravinia Festival) and the world premieres of Doubt (Minnesota Opera) and Bel Canto (Lyric Opera of Chicago); dozens of other world premieres, including Kansas City Choir Boy (starring Courtney Love, Prototype Festival / National Tour), GRAMMY winner The(R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Santa Fe, Seattle, San Francisco Operas), Unholy Wars (Spoleto Festival USA, Opera Philadelphia’s O Festival), The Good Swimmer (BAM Next Wave Festival), and five operas with composer Gregory Spears: Fellow Travelers (8 productions, including the world premiere at Cincinnati Opera; NY Times “Best of 2016”), Castor and Patience (Cincinnati Opera, NY Times “Best of 2022”), Paul’s Case (Prototype Festival), O Columbia (Houston Grand Opera) and The Righteous (Santa Fe Opera). Theatre includes Candy & Dorothy (GLAAD Media Award Winner), Eighty-Sixed (Diversionary Theatre, San Diego) Candide (with Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, Philadelphia Orchestra); TV/Film: Apple TV+’s Dickinson, dozens of music videos, short films, and film festival awards, including the Times Square Midnight Moment. Co-Creative Director: Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville 30th Anniversary National Tour. Upcoming: Hansel and Gretel (Juilliard School), Fellow Travelers 10th Anniversary National Tour. Co-Founder: Up Until Now Collective.
Set and Projection Design
Tim Wallace
Lighting Design
Abigail Hoke-Brady
Costume Design
Jess Goldstein
Hair and Makeup Design
Jenn Hill
Resident Conductor/Chorus Master
Bruce Stasyna
Assistant Director
Matthew Haney
Diction Coach
Emanuela Patroncini
Stage Manager
Carmen Catherine Alfaro
Supertitle Caller
Oxana Bulgakova
Assistant Stage Managers
Caitlynn Sandoval
Adrian Speth
Musical Preparation
Catherine Miller
Production Assistant
Holden Fox
Photos by David Pearson courtesy of Virginia Opera.
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