At the age of 84 at that point, she performed only Saturday nights. I never actually saw Marta - the opera house’s founder, owner and, for more than four decades, its star solo performer. Retrieved January 31, 2017.Several springs ago, I took a road trip to Death Valley, stayed at the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel and fell in love with Marta Becket. "Marta Becket, who made Amargosa Opera House famous, dies at 92". "Soirée planned for Becket’s final stage performance" Archived at archive.today "Amargosa Opera House visionary Marta Becket prepares to bow out".
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Death Valley & the Amargosa: a land of illusion. "Marta Becket, Dancer in the Desert, Dies at 92".
#THE AMARGOSA OPERA HOUSE PLUS#
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In 1970, journalists from National Geographic discovered Becket doing a performance at the Amargosa Opera House without an audience. īecket rented the recreation hall, then known as Corkhill Hall, began repairs and changed the name to the Amargosa Opera House. At the northeast end of the complex was a recreation hall used as a community center for dances, church services, movies, funerals and town meetings. The U-shaped complex of Mexican Colonial-style adobe buildings included company offices, a store, a dorm, a 23-room hotel, dining room, lobby and employees' headquarters. The theater was part of a company town designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloch and constructed in 1923–24 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company. She married in 1962, and she was on her way with her husband to an engagement in 1967 when, due to a flat tire, she discovered a theater in Death Valley Junction and decided to stay. Later, she took her one-woman show across the country, performing in small theaters and school auditoriums. She was in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall and on Broadway she appeared in Show Boat, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Wonderful Town. Becket began ballet lessons at age 14, which eventually led to performances as a ballerina.