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Operetta returns to Leadville

Kimberly Nicoletti

LEADVILLE – If you’ve never been to the opera and you’re not sure you can handle it, try Leadville’s abbreviated version.

Set in the historic Tabor House, “Highlights from The Ballad of Baby Doe” is a reduction of the opera by Douglas Moore and John Latouche. It premiered at the Central City Opera in 1954.

The highlights of the opera feature the lead singers and costumes from the Opera Theatre of the Rockies production. The show tells the story of how Horace and Augusta Tabor came to Leadville and struck it rich, how Baby Doe and Horace fell in love and married, and how Baby Doe pledged Horace she would never relinquish the Matchless Mine.



“Highlights from The Ballad of Baby Doe” brought more than 1,000 attendees to the Tabor Opera House when it premiered two years ago.

Presented by the Tabor Opera House in collaboration with Opera Theatre of the Rockies, “Highlights from The Ballad of Baby Doe” features the return of Judeth Shay Burns as Baby Doe, Marcia Ragonetti as Augusta Tabor and Steven Taylor as Horace Tabor. All three singers are well known to Central City Opera and Opera Colorado audiences. John Giardino returns as the narrator. Producer and director Debra Ayers plays piano for the production.



The operatic production takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children 17 and younger. They may be purchased by calling (719) 486-8409. The Opera House is open daily and offers self-guided tours.


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