Amargosa Opera House: the passion of Marta Becket
I didn't have the good fortune to meet Marta or see her perform, but her passion and creative generosity will stay with me, forever reminding me that the joy is in the creation.
Marta lives on in each of us who continue writing, making art, telling our stories, even when the audience doesn't arrive.
She will always be a dust devil spinning over Death Valley. It was my honor to experience a bit of her creativity and to share her story.
Joyce
(C) Joyce Wycoff, 2024
Wycoff https://gratitudemojo.substack.com/
A flat tire in the middle of nowhere changed
Marta Becket’s destiny.
Marta Becket … NYC dancer/painter …
a deserted building spoke to her - 8/9/1967
she rented it immediately - $45/month
first performance - 2/10/1968
painted “audience” on walls for 2 years
painted ceiling for 2 summers
she did all her own choreography
created her own costumes and stage sets
she danced en pointe until she was 84 last performance - 2/12/2012
Marta died at 92 in 2017.
Through these doors … for 50 years … people, from all over the world, from all walks of life, celebrities, tourists, journalists, students, teachers, musicians, dancers, artists, came to be inspired by the passion, the determination, the grace and artistry of Marta Becket
“Becket’s
Saga of a Tale of Survival”
by Kristen Peterson, Las Vegas Sun“The former New York dancer settled in Death Valley Junction in the 1960s with her husband, Tom Williams, after they stopped there to fix a flat tire on their trailer while camping in Death Valley.
“Tired of touring, they paid $45 a month to rent the small theater used by the workers of the Pacific Coast Borax Company who were housed in what is now the Amargosa Hotel.” read more here
The hotel still hosts guests and offers tours.
Marta’s stage for 50 years.
the walls and ceiling.
"I'm going to quit Broadway and strike out on my own.”
"If an audience didn't come, I would perform any way.”
“I’ll become a dust devil over Death Valley Junction.”
Before Marta: the Borax Story
Borax, known as "white gold,” was a significant economic player in the development of the Death Valley region. Zane Grey, known primarily for his western novels, publicized the toll that the grueling work takes on the miners' health, highlighting the dangers of working in extreme environments and the risks associated with exposure to hazardous substances such as borax.
It is said that the average working life of a borax miner was 6 - 12 months before he died or left with damaged health. Death Valley Junction, in the shadow of Funeral Peak, served as a miner's encampment before the hotel now known as the Amargosa Hotel was built.
Photo: Death Valley National Park, DEVA TMT97A Zane Grey (photo: Wikipedia)
After Zane Grey’s expose, the mine owners “found” a sketch of the hotel they later built which included dorms for the miners.
Hotel Veranda
After the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Marta Becket painted murals throughout the hotel. The guest dining room is painted in trompe l'oeil style depicting a Spanish courtyard.
“Through the Colonade”
by Marta Becket
“I dream about it at night … I dream I’m doing the steps I used to do.”
Click here to watch the video of Marta telling her own story.
For more about Marta and the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel: https://www.amargosaoperahouse.org/
