Amargosa Opera House

Last month during isolation I read a book that I bought a couple of months ago. Even a month later my thoughts turn to the story regularly. The book is "To Dance on Sands," a biography by Marta Becket. Along with it being an interesting book, it made me think about the normal everyday things in life that get overlooked and not learned when an artist starts their craft very early in life.  Marta was able to study her many talents almost 100% from a very early age.  She wrote and played her own compositions on the piano, she was an artist that sold her works in galleries in NY, she performed on Broadway and Radio City Music Hall, she was a seamstress, choreographer and trained in ballet. She wrote and performed all her own works on stage. 

Marta Becket was born in 1924 and lived in the New York area. She married in 1962 at the age of 38. She was on her way with her husband to an engagement in 1967 when, due to a flat tire, she discovered a theatre in Death Valley Junction California. The next day they rented the theatre and decided to move and make Death Valley Junction their home. 

Larry and I visited Marta Becket's Amargosa Opera House and Hotel in Death Valley Junction in October 2019. Unfortunately the electricity was out in the town and others in the surrounding area so we could not go into the Opera House, for it has no windows or air conditioning. I bought Marta Becket's biography and a couple of postcards while visiting the gift shop in the hotel.  

As this book still haunts my thoughts a month after reading it, I wish I had taken more than just the 54 photos I took while there that 98º day in Death Valley. A few of the costumes she meticulously made to dance in are on display along with sun burnt photos in the windows of an empty building across the street from the Opera House.  She passed away of natural causes in January of 2017 at 92 years of age, leaving a legacy of performing on stage in her own Opera House for four decades.  

Marta's biography

Driving on State Line Rd. coming from Las Vegas to Death Valley. In the distance we could see the white buildings of the Amargosa Hotel and Opera House at Death Valley Junction.

The 35+ arches along the colonnade of the Spanish Colonial Revival style building were coming into view.

We parked across the street at first to look inside the building that had costumes and pictures in the windows. Although there were wide eaves on the building the photos on display were fading from the hot sun.

Before reading her book, seeing these dresses didn't have an impact on me. At the time I didn't know she had made them all herself.

This history is from Wikipedia.

"When the town of Amargosa was booming due to the Borax mining business, and its position at the terminus of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, about 350 people lived in the town. The hotel served as a very nice place to stay for both company executives and visiting investors, who were met at the train with white-gloved valets after a long and hot train ride. In addition to the hotel rooms, the cafe and a restaurant within the hotel, other rooms were bunkhouses for workers, an infirmary, a general store and what is now the Opera House, which was mostly used for showing films. A large gas station and garage across from the cafe was the only location in the area for repairs of trucks hauling borax out of the mines, in addition to passenger car repairs. When the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ceased to be economical in 1942, the tracks were torn up completely and sent to Egypt. where the railroad was set up again to aid the Allies military effort in Egypt. Once the railroad stopped, the Opera House, Hotel and about 250 acres of land changed hands many times, until Marta Becket arrived on the scene. Marta Becket rented the recreation hall in 1967 for $45 per month, when it was known as Corkhill Hall; she began repairs, created the sets, and painted murals on the adobe walls. She renamed it the Amargosa, the original name of the former mining town."

Doors to the Opera House. Marta created the paintings here and throughout the inside of the Opera House. Unfortunately we could not go inside for a tour because the electricity to the town and those around it was out. There are no windows inside and no air conditioning. It was in the high 90's that day.

Through this opening to the right is the photo below. It was a blocked off area. 

One day while looking at the area on Google Earth I noticed that the yellow pick up with flat tires was sitting in the same spot. It belonged to Tom "Wilget" Willett, he was a caretaker, stage manager and became a character in some of Marta's performances. He passed away at 77 years old in 2005.

Through the opening and looking to the left towards the end of the colonnade where the hotel entrance is.

Such a beautiful color of blue

Years of desert dust and cobwebs

A couple of the hotel room doors

A peek through a window into a guest room bath; fresh and ready for a guest. Beautiful and possibly 80 year old tile design.

Standing at the entrance to the hotel. There are over 35 arches/openings along this one colonnade.

Looking out towards the Opera House

Inside the guest register office.

All the murals were painted by Marta Becket

Hallway leading to the 24 guest rooms, of which only 16 are being rented. And there are 30 more rooms beyond that were used to house miners back in the day of the Borax mine. 

Postcard depicting one of the scenes painted in the Opera House

Another postcard I purchased

Here is a link to a 5 minute video by "Visit California" about Marta Becket and the Amargosa Opera House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39QGMZzku0E

After growing up in So. Cal and never visiting Death Valley I'm glad I finally got to drive through this National Park.

I doubt we'll ever make the trip again but I'm so grateful for seeing the above documentary on OPB and then making it a dedicated stop on our vacation last October.

Using an app on Larry's phone I took a photo of the screen when we reached the lowest point in Death Valley, -301 ft!