Fellow Travelers

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Author, Fellow Travelers (‘26)
Hometown: Glen Cove, NY

Thomas Mallon’s eleven books of fiction include Henry and Clara, Fellow Travelers, Watergate (a Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award) and Up With the Sun.  He has also written volumes of nonfiction about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One’s Own), letters (Yours Ever) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine’s Garage), as well as two books of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact).  A collection of his personal journals, The Very Heart of It:  New York Diaries, 1983-1994, will be published by Knopf in June 2025. Mallon’s work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review and other publications.  He received his Ph. D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College.  His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the National Book Critics Circle citation for reviewing, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, for distinguished prose style.  He has been literary editor of Gentlemen’s Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2012 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  An eight-part dramatic adaptation of his novel Fellow Travelers is now streaming on Showtime/Paramount+, and an opera based on the novel has had a dozen productions throughout the United States.  He is Professor Emeritus of English at The George Washington University and lives in Washington, D. C.

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Original Commissioner, Fellow Travelers (’26)
Hometown: San Antonio, TX

G. Sterling Zinsmeyer is a veteran producer of films and stage productions. His interest has been to tell the stories of our gay community. His film production credits include The Deception, which premiered at the 2015 Santa Fe Film Festival, and Latter Days, which was released to wide acclaim in 2004. Latter Days has since been selected by The Library of Congress to be archived in their collection of important American films.

After reading Thomas Mallon’s novel Fellow Travelers, Mr. Zinsmeyer enlisted his friend Kevin Newbury to help him bring this story to the stage as a chamber opera. Together they brought Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce aboard as composer and librettist. The opera premiered in Cincinnati in 2016 to rapturous reviews and was named by The New York Times as one of the ten best classical music events of that year. Mr. Zinsmeyer is currently the Acting Director of the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM.

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Composer, Fellow Travelers (‘26)

Hometown: New York, NY
Seattle Opera Debut

Gregory Spears is a New York-based composer who has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and more. His opera, Fellow Travelers, written in collaboration with Greg Pierce, premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016 and has been produced at many companies across the country. The premiere was featured in The New York Times’ The Best Classical Music of 2016. His latest opera, The Righteous, written in collaboration with former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, was commissioned by Santa Fe Opera and premiered there in 2024. Castor and Patience, also written in collaboration with Smith, was commissioned by Cincinnati Opera for their 100th Anniversary and premiered in 2022. Both operas were named “Critics Pick” by The New York Times. For the 2021-2022 season, the New York Philharmonic commissioned and premiered Love Story, an orchestral song cycle for countertenor and orchestra.

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Librettist, Fellow Travelers (‘26)

Hometown: Shelburne, VT
Seattle Opera Debut

Greg Pierce is a playwright, librettist, and lyricist based in New York City. He wrote the libretto for Fellow Travelers with composer Gregory Spears, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera, and the libretto for the Grammy-nominated opera The Hours with composer Kevin Puts, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and The Philadelphia Opera. He also written a variety of musicals and plays, including The Landing, Kid Victory, Slowgirl, Her Requiem, The Quarry, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Cardinal. Pierce frequently collaborates with singer and actor Mare Winningham, who has recorded many of his songs, and he has received fellowships from the Edward F. Albee Foundation, Yaddo, The Djerassi Institute, the New York Public Library, and the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Conductor, Fellow Travelers

Hometown: Ossining, NY
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: General and Artistic Director (Chautauqua Opera Company); Conductor, El último sueño de Frida y Diego, Grounded (The Metropolitan Opera); Amahl and the Night Visitors (Lincoln Center Theater); The Rising World (Seoul Arts Center); La bohème (Arizona Opera)

Last Updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Stage Director, Fellow Travelers (‘26)

Hometown: Auburn, ME
Seattle Opera Debut: Director, Mary Stuart (‘16)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Director, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (‘19)

Engagements: Director, Castor & Patience (Cincinnati Opera); Creative Director, Liz Phair: GUYVILLE Tour; Director, The Righteous (Santa Fe Opera); Director, SOUL(SIGNS): Making Music Visible (PBS); Director, Fellow Travelers (National Tour); Co-Founder, Up Until Now Collective

Last updated: January 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Associate Director and Intimacy Director, Fellow Travelers (‘26)

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Resident Intimacy Director, LA Opera; Intimacy Director, La traviata (San Diego Opera), Rodrigo (Opera UCLA), La bohème (Washington National Opera); Stage Director and Intimacy Director, t o u c h (Opera Birmingham), JUANA (Opera UCLA); Director, The Marriage of Figaro, Semele (Opera Santa Barbara), Proving Up (Boulder Opera), Carmen (Opera Orlando)

Last updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Wigs, Hair, and Makeup Manager & Designer, The Pirates of Penzance; Fellow Travelers; Carmen; Hair and Makeup Manager & Designer, Daphne in Concert

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Seattle Opera Debut: Hair and Makeup Intern, Giulio Cesare (2007)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Tosca (’25); The Magic Flute (’25); Les Troyens in Concert (’25); Lucidity (’24); Jubilee (’24); Pagliacci (’24)

Ashlee Naegle made a name for herself early on in her career by mastering the dying art of wig building. She created and designed for several companies around town until the Seattle Opera created an in-house Hair and Makeup Designer position for her in 2017. During her time as the in-house Hair and Makeup Designer, she has built a sizable wig collection, built a department, and set high standards for wigs, hair and makeup. With each production, her designs are custom built for the performers and their characters to create a believable façade for the audience as well as complement the costumes and production as a whole.

Last Updated: July 2025

Production Stage Manager

Hometown: Houston, TX
Seattle Opera Mainstage Debut: Les Troyens in Concert (’25)
Jonathan Moore (he/him) is thrilled to be a part of the Seattle Opera Production Team as Production Stage Manager. He has primarily worked in opera and ballet, including, most recently, a 4-season stint at the Houston Ballet. He has also stage managed for plays, musicals, a Fringe Festival, concerts, and a drag show. Favorite projects include a tour to Tokyo, an opera in a hot spring, and several operas in barns. He has worked across the country, including in New York, San Diego, San Antonio, Steamboat Springs, and Logan, UT.

Last Updated: February 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Pagliacci, Jubilee, The Magic Flute, Tosca

Hometown: Coventry, RI
Seattle Opera Debut: Il trovatore ('19)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Jubilee (‘24); Pagliacci (‘24); X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X ('24); Das Rheingold ('23); A Thousand Splendid Suns ('23)
Engagements: Blithe Spirit, Sanctuary City, Selling Kabul, Teenage Dick (Seattle Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol (ACT Contemporary Theatre); Everything is Illuminated (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Last Updated: January 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Video Stage Manager, The Magic Flute

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Seattle Opera Debut: Salome ('02)
Previously at Seattle Opera: A Thousand Splendid Suns (‘23); Ring cycle (‘05, ‘13); Lohengrin (‘04); Parsifal (‘03) 

Last Updated: October 2024