Jesse made his debut as Hawkins Fuller in Gregory Spears's opera Fellow Travelers at the Boston Lyric Opera from November 13-17, 2019. Based on the best-selling novel by Thomas Mallon in 2007, which follows the story of two men who are swept into a passionate love affair in1950s paranoia in Washington, D.C., just as Senator McCarthy ratchets up his hunt for “sexual subversives” in the government.
Jesse Blumberg, Hawkins Fuller
Jesse Darden, Timothy Laughlin
Simon Dyer, Potter's Assistant, Bookseller, Technician, French Priest, Party Guest
Vincent Turregano, Tommy McIntire
James Maddalena, Senator Charles Potter, General Arlie, Bartender
Michelle Trainor, Miss Lightfoot
Chelsea Basler, Mary Johnson
David McFerrin, Estonian Frank, Interrogator, Senator Joseph McCarthy
Briana J. Robinson, Lucy
“As Hawk, baritone Jesse Blumberg was delightful and immediately engaging: his dark, broad sound easily provided solid basis for a believable, seductive swagger. Blumberg’s interpretation matures with his character: circumstance tempers his initial confidence and Blumberg effectively conveys the character’s brooding interior life. Blumberg’s sensitive turn in Hawk’s final aria “Our very own home” was the dramatic highlight of the entire evening.” – Boston Music Intelligencer
“It helps that BLO had a stellar cast to bring this vocal writing to life. Jesse Blumberg brought a particular bravado and a warm baritone voice to Hawkins Fuller that made him absolutely magnetic to watch, and made it very easy to see what it was that Timothy sees in him even in the final scene after Hawkins betrays him.” – Schmopera
“Fuller – sung with a strongly grounded, rich baritone voice and played with heartbreaking complexity by Jesse Blumberg” – The Theater Mirror
“Baritone Jesse Blumberg is wonderful as Hawk, a man who seems assured in his own skin yet (as we learn) deeply conflicted about being gay to the point of destructiveness. Blumberg keeps the dramatic stakes high; despite his outward confidence as the easygoing charmer, he plays the restlessness beneath from the outset. He's especially compelling in his second-act aria of denial ("Our very own home"): "I'm not one of those," sung in a melancholy lower register over a deliberate, foreboding ostinato.” – Talkin’ Broadway
