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
Baby Doe Tabor magnate almost twice her age. In 1883 he divorced his first wife, to whom he had been married for 25 years, and married Baby Doe in Washington, D.C. during his brief stint as a US senator, after which they took up residence in Denver. His divorce and remarriage to the young and beautiful Baby Doe caused a scandal in 1880s Colorado. Although Tabor was one of the wealthiest men in Colorado, supporting his wife in a lavish style, he lost his fortune when the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused the Panic of 1893 with widespread bankruptcies in