The Ballad of Baby Doe Karan Armstrong, Faith Esham, and Elizabeth Futral. The opera's premiere took place at the Central City Opera in Colorado in 1956. Hanya Holm and Edwin Levy directed the production, and sopranos Dolores Wilson and Leyna Gabriele alternated in the title role. The opera's New York premiere, directed by Vladimir Rosing, was presented at the New York City Opera in 1958 in a revised version which added the gambling scene in Act 2 and an additional aria for Baby Doe. At the time, further revisions were being considered, but these were abandoned upon the sudden death of Latouche. Based on the
The Ballad of Little Joe that a long time ago, way out in the West somewhere, on a ranch known as the Okie-Dokie corral, there lived a group of cowboy brothers. One of the brothers named Reuben greets the viewers with "'Allo, little doggies!" After that, the rest of the brothers were introduced, who are all named Simeon, Levi, Izzy, Zeb, Gad, Ash, Dan, Natty, and Jude. There was also Baby Ben, but "he was too little to come outside". There was also one more brother, named Little Joe (played by Larry the Cucumber). Little Joe then comes out from the ranchhouse, to which Jude