Marta Becket: Death Valley's Dancing Queen
In 1967, at age 43, Marta Becket, a former Broadway dancer, headed out West with her husband on a one-woman tour.
In Death Valley, their aptly-named Covered Wagon travel trailer blew a tire. They limped into the nearest settlement, Death Valley Junction, population 20.
It looked like a ghost town. The square was dominated by a rundown hotel and the abandoned workers’ flats of a defunct borax mining company.
But there was a gas station, thank goodness.
There was also a derelict community theater. While her husband repaired the tire, Marta wandered over to it. She peered through a tiny hole in the back door.
Sunlight fell through pieces of ruined roof and illuminated a small stage. Kangaroo rats scurried to and fro. Warped wooden benches sat empty, waiting. At the foot of a sunbeam, a doll’s head with blue glass eyes stared back at her.
"As I peered through that tiny hole," Marta later wrote, "I had the distinct feeling that I was looking at the other half of my life. The building seemed to be saying, "Take me. Do something with me. I offer you life.'"
Over the next fifty years, Marta built it into a creative oasis she called The Amargosa Opera House. To view a five-minute documentary on Marta's legacy, please follow this link.
I promise it's like nothing you've seen before. Enjoy!
Warmly,
P.S. If you'd like more of these stories, I post late-blooming inspiration twice daily on the Later Bloomer Facebook page.
|
