Ballad of Baby Doe
Synopsis
Act I On a street in Leadville, Colorado, in 1880, an old miner brags that the wealthy Horace Tabor wants to buy his silver mine, which he calls the “Matchless” Mine. Horace Tabor and his cronies emerge from the Tabor Opera House in an attempt to escape their wives and their boredom but Horace’s wife, Augusta, and the wives of Horace’s cronies find their husbands and scold them. Before joining Augusta inside the Opera House, Horace meets Elizabeth “Baby” Doe, who has just arrived in town and is looking for the Clarendon Hotel, where she will lodge.
Later that evening, outside the Clarendon, Horace hears Baby Doe singing through an open window. She appears at the window and offers the smitten Horace her hand to kiss before Augusta calls him inside. Several months later, while Augusta tidies Horace’s desk in their apartment at the Clarendon, she discovers a check made out to the Matchless Mine. She also finds a pair of white gloves, which, the maid informs her, are a gift from Horace to Baby Doe. Augusta confronts Horace about the Matchless Mine, which she believes to be an unwise investment, but he spurns her warnings. Then Augusta produces the gloves, and Horace admits to his affair with Baby Doe.
Enraged, Augusta vows to drive Baby Doe out of town. Packed to depart from Leadville, Baby Doe writes her mother that her husband Harvey has left her, and that she feels it is wrong to stay with Horace Tabor, a married man. Augusta pays Baby Doe a visit, warning her that there will be trouble if she doesn’t leave Horace. Baby Doe at first agrees, but, appalled by Augusta’s apparent harshness toward Horace, decides to stay in Leadville with him. A year later, Tabor has left Augusta and is living with Baby Doe. Her friends inform Augusta, now living in Denver, that Horace plans to divorce her. She swears to ruin him.
Divorced from Augusta, Horace, recently appointed a U.S. Senator, celebrates his wedding to Baby Doe at a lavish reception in Washington, D.C. Many of the other senators’ wives, disapproving of the couple, do not attend. Mama McCourt, Baby’s mother, inadvertently reveals to the horrified guests that Baby is a divorced woman. The evening is saved from near-disaster when President Chester A. Arthur arrives and toasts the newlyweds.
Act II In 1893, at a ball given for Horace in Denver by the Governor of Colorado, Augusta’s gossiping friends snub Baby. Baby explains to her mother that they are simply jealous that she and Horace are still so happy. Two years later, Augusta visits Baby to warn her that Horace is in serious financial trouble. She urges Baby to convince Horace to abandon his investments in silver. When Baby tells Horace about Augusta’s fears, Horace reassures her that all is well. Baby promises to stand by Horace and the Matchless Mine forever.
In 1896, confident that silver will make a comeback when William Jennings Bryan is elected President, Horace tries to convince his cronies to join him in backing the Matchless Mine. When they refuse, Horace accuses them of cowardice. Horace, Baby, and their two little daughters stage a rally for William Jennings Bryan outside the Matchless Mine. Augusta hears that William Jennings Bryan has been defeated by William McKinley.
Baby’s mother, Mama McCourt, begs Augusta to rescue Tabor from his subsequent financial ruin, but Augusta refuses. Augusta, however, privately expresses her regret over her own severity and her failed marriage. Horace Tabor, ruined and dying, appears on the stage of his opera house in Leadville. Baby arrives to comfort him in his last moments. She then goes to the entry of the Matchless Mine, where she keeps vigil until she is an old woman, and she too dies.
Courtesy of New York City Opera
