2000 Season Opera Theatre of the Rockies

The Ballad of Baby Doe

Springs diva Martile Rowland has played the great opera houses of the world, from New York City to Nice, Buenos Aires to Prague. But her biggest thrill lies right here along the Colorado Front Range with her love child and brain trust, Opera Theatre of the Rockies.

First produced in Central City, the opera retells the Colorado-based story of Horace A.W. Tabor, a rich mining baron in Leadville in the late 1800s who fell from grace when he lost his fortune made in silver to the gold standard and a fated love affair with a woman named Baby Doe.

As written by Moore, The Ballad of Baby Doe visits familiar operatic themes -- the rise and fall of personal fortune, the driving force of romantic love and the tragic consequences of pride. And as sung by Rowland's formidable cast, it is rousing art and entertainment of the finest sort.

Judeth Shay Burns, originally from Colorado Springs but now living in Aspen, plays the title role of Baby Doe. Diminutive and fine-boned, Burns' soprano voice lends an angelic quality to the legendary Colorado figure, who outlived her husband, Horace, by more than 30 years and died in seclusion, reportedly freezing to death at the Matchless Mine, source of Tabor's financial downfall.

The entire cast, splendid in formal costume, crowd the stage as Horace, played by baritone Steve Taylor, and Baby Doe hold center stage. When a group of taunting businessmen tell Tabor that silver is doomed and the country must adopt the gold standard, Baby Doe steps in with a defense of her new husband, a stirring aria referred to as the "silver aria."

Rounding out the cast of principal singers is renowned Colorado mezzo-soprano Marcia Ragonetti as Augusta, Horace's first wife of 27 years, who claims the bulk of his fortune when they divorce in order that he might marry Baby Doe.

Augusta is the opera's most complex character -- cold and harsh but powerfully sympathetic as the woman scorned. In the scene where she discovers Horace's extramarital fascination with Baby Doe, Ragonetti sings a heart-wrenching ode to the hard work of marriage: "Working side by side with him," she sings, gazing at her hands. "No, they're not pretty hands, not like hers, not like hers."And later, when confronting Baby Doe, Augusta represents the voice of common sense, warning the young woman: "I've come here to warn you there'll be trouble. I suppose he's told you there have been others ...."

The ghostly climactic scene of the play shows Augusta and other figures from Horace's past, haunting him before his death, penniless and destitute. Ragonetti's powerful delivery virtually buffets ragged Horace about the stage, forcing him to see the folly of his ways.

Still, when he dies in the arms of Baby Doe, he croons to her: "You were the only real thing. ... Love alone is fixed in time."

Kathryn Eastburn
March 23, 2000, The Independent

...This opera makes huge demands on its principals, and they all meet the challenge. Judeth Shay Burns is almost ideal as Baby Doe Tabor: She's young, glamorous, sounds like a lark with her agile soprano voice, and, in an extremely demanding part, got stronger as the plot thickened. Marcia Ragonetti may be too attractive to play Augusta Tabor, but she projects Augusta's coldness - and later softening - through her excellent acting and vocal characterization. ...
Augusta's friends - played by Susan Kilcrease, Michele Magrini, Susan Stewart and Amy Stuemky - highlight the 50-member supporting cast. It's worth the price of admission just to hear them lay into the word "housetops." Carl Ficarrotta, Robert Lays, Jeff Marshall and Robert Tiffany are nearly as good as Tabor's faithless cronies.
Director Hela Robran and music director Martile Rowland make sure the evening is as theatrically satisfying as it is vocally.
But I'll confess that my single greatest pleasure came from hearing such a fine orchestra so close by. Conductor Thomas Cockrell navigates the tricky score with seeming ease, and the well-balanced 27-piece orchestra made the most of this colorful, romantic music.
Finally, the production oozes period atmosphere. The sepia-toned scrim that greets the audience is copied from the actual Tabor Opera House; the sets are from Central City Opera, the organization that premiered the work in 1956. The intimate setting allows you to wallow in the intricate detail of Gypsy Ames' costumes, designed for Colorado Opera Festival's 1986 production. And Lloyd Sobel's lighting is full of sensitive touches, such as the way he changes the tone from gold to silver when Baby Doe sings about being a child of the moon.

Mark Arnest
The Gazette
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