The program includes highlights from performances over the years, a remembrance of Marta Becket’s years with Radio City Music Hall, Sandra Scheller’s live performances inspired by Becket, a performance of Marta Becket classics by Hilda Vazquez, and a champagne reception and toast.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Marta’s first performance at the Amargosa Opera House on February 10, 1968, there is a special celebration planned for February 10 in Death Valley Junction. Luckily, the Board of Directors for Amargosa Opera House, led by Fred Conboy, brought the state paperwork up to date and paid the fees and fines owed to bring operations current. Finally, the organization’s board rallied and order was restored to Death Valley Junction, but the damage had been done – at nearly the same date that Becket died, a letter arrived from the state of California informing the organization their charitable status was going to be terminated for lack of payment of registration fees and filing of required paperwork.
The town had a hotel and cafe in addition to the opera house, as well as a herd of wild mustangs that regularly called for treats from Becket.īeing elderly and the town’s lone resident, she was preyed upon by grifters and opportunists who took advantage of her isolation to bilk her organization of funds, while squatters moved into the hotel, and Becket allegedly became the victim of elder abuse. Becket, who had turned ownership of the entire town of Death Valley Junction to a non-profit organization, did not have an easy time during her later years. The Amargosa Opera House saw Becket perform regularly from 1967 until 2012, followed by sporadic performances.
It is a magical creation that has to be seen to be appreciated. It took her four years to paint the walls, with another two years to complete the ceiling. Originally performing in the auditorium, sometimes to no audience at all, she made the decision to transform the hall into a Renaissance opera house, replete with king and queen, courtiers, church hierarchy, and the high society of the time all caught in the act of attending the opera. An artist and performer from New York, Becket chanced upon an old mining company auditorium near Death Valley when on tour in 1967, and she transformed the dusty hall with its leaky roof into an internationally beloved cultural center.īecket was an inspiring (and inspired) artistic force in the desert up until her death almost a year ago. One of the Mojave Desert’s greatest cultural treasures is Marta Becket and her Amargosa Opera House in the “town” of Death Valley Junction.
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