Opera Theatre in Pueblo and the Springs
Presented by Opera Theatre of the Rockies, 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Damon Runyon Theater, 611 N. Main St., Pueblo; 3 p.m. Sunday at First Christian Church, 15 E. Platte Ave., Colorado Springs. $7-$20; 719-564-0479 (Pueblo), 646-3127 (Colorado Springs), operatheatreoftherockies.org
Edited to add: The Friday performance has been postponed due to a water main break. The rescheduled date will be announced.
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After a stunning collaboration with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and Puccini’s “Tosca” in February, Opera Theatre of the Rockies will take it down a notch or two this weekend.
In Pueblo and Colorado Springs, five opera singers and music director/pianist Dan Brink will explore the intimate side of the art form with “Douglas Moore in Colorado.” In concert settings they will offer a narrated version of the American composer’s popular “The Ballad of Baby Doe” and the short, one-act “Gallantry.”
“ ’Baby Doe’ is more tragic and ‘Gallantry’ is more comic,” explained Victoria Hansen, who will do double duty as both stage director and performer. “We had a great response to this program when we performed it in Westcliffe last November.”
“Baby Doe,” or at least its story, should be known to most Coloradans. It’s based upon the life of silver baron and politician Horace Tabor, who ran his business out of Leadville in the 1860s, ’70s and ’80s.
“It is high drama,” Hansen said. “The outrageous success of Horace, which then reversed and ended so tragically; the love affair, divorce, scandal, and the steadfast love which Baby Doe and Horace maintained even in poverty; the fact it is a true story and is deeply rooted in Colorado history. And then you have the music, which is beautiful as well as descriptive.”
Sounds like a soap opera. And “Gallantry” is a comedic farce that actually parodies television soap operas from the 1950s.
“ ’Baby Doe’ is the main course and ‘Gallantry’ is the dessert,” Hansen said.
David Sckolnik, david.sckolnik@gazette.com
The cast of Gallantry: (L to R) Victoria Hansen, Douglas Denning, Amy Mushall, Malcolm Ulbrick, and Stephanie Brink COURTESY PHOTO





