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The desert may have been Marta Becket’s destiny long before she knew it.
An accomplished artist and touring performer of dance, Becket was set to embark on a 21-concert tour in 1967. Prior to going on tour, she attended a going away party hosted by a friend who was also a psychic. Becket left the party devastated—the psychic had told her this would be her final tour and she would be leaving New York to move to a distant, rural place.
It doesn’t get much more distant and rural than Death Valley Junction with its wild horses, abandoned buildings, and wide, expansive landscapes.
Becket and her husband spent a week camping in Death Valley during a lull on that 1967 tour. One morning they awoke to find their travel trailer
had a flat tire.
The nearest place to have it repaired was Death Valley Junction. While the tire was being patched, Becket took a look around the old buildings, including the Amargosa Hotel. At the end of a broad U-shaped complex with its long colonnade, there was the abandoned Corkill Hall, a small theatre. Becket wrote that peering into the theatre through a tiny hole, she “had the distinct feeling that I was looking at the other half of myself.” She felt a connection that led to the couple renting the theatre for $45 a month.
The 1924 building was in disrepair, but that summer, Becket arrived on her birthday, August 9, at age 43, and began her new life.
She renamed Corkill Hall the Amargosa Opera House and began teaching ballet. The first public performance in the theatre was held in February 1968. Becket danced for an audience of twelve local residents.
Since then, Becket has triumphed over floods, personal losses, and the ongoing struggle of delivering impassioned performances in the midst of the
desert. She is now the town’s only full-time resident, the Amargosa Hotel and the Opera House its only attractions.
Struck by inspiration, Becket decided to create a Renaissance audience for her performances, which led to her turning her talent as a painter to the walls and ceiling of the Opera House. A delightful variety of early 16th century concert goers fill the balconies, from the king and queen to the clergy, prostitutes, and gypsies.
Last year, Becket suffered a back injury that sometimes prevents her from dancing, but she continues to entertain with a weekly “sit down” show on
Saturday nights.
When she is able to return to dancing, she will, but when her injury prevents her from dancing, she regales her guests with the history of how she came to create her own magical theatre in this desolate desert junction, singing selections from her own productions that have been presented on stage at the Opera House through its 40-year history. It is an entrancing journey of one person’s dedication to her art, and a course in how Becket has become a desert legend.
Becket has penned her autobiography, To Dance on Sands, and her life story has been optioned by a film company in Europe. Her theatre
consistently fills to capacity, with visitors from Europe, Asia, and North America all making a pilgrimage to this remarkable desert destination.
And she may have something special in the works for the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Amargosa Opera House. Knowing Becket, it will be something quite special, indeed.
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