The Ballad of Baby Doe

Last year we had a wonderful time at the Take a Child to the Opera event. So Marina and I were looking forward to going again this year. This year’s show was The Ballad of Baby Doe – the story of a famous Colorado woman. The opera was set in a mining town, similar to the one we were in. In fact, this was the 60th anniversary of the show, which premiered in the opera house.

We drove into the mountains this morning. It was a beautiful day. Our activities started off with a scavenger hunt in the two blocks around the opera house. For every location we found, we got a brief history of each place. We even got to see some of Baby Doe’s furniture on display. After we completed the hunt, we checked out a small museum which focused on law and order in 1860’s.

 
We had a break for lunch, so we found a shady spot on one of the opera house patios and enjoyed the food we brought with us. After lunch, we went for a talk with the opera music director and one of the singers. They talked extensively about The Ballad of Baby Doe. By then we were excited to see the show.

We lined up on street to watch the famous Usher Song. Then we went into the opera house for the show. Our seats were in the second row, so we had an excellent view of the stage. Marina loved the opera. She especially liked the voice of the actress singing the part of Baby Doe. After the show was over, it started to rain outside. So they moved the cast meet and greet inside the opera house. Marina was thrilled to meet the actors playing Horace, Baby Doe and Augusta.

We got out some leftovers from lunch to eat on the way home. We were all hungry and tired. But we’d had a great day.