His approach is far too heavy-handed and pious this film could have been a lot more lighthearted and comic while still showing great respect for Becket. So Todd Robinson deserves credit for almost accomplishing the impossible. It’s just a little bit creepy.Marta Becket is such a fascinating person that it would be nearly impossible to create a boring documentary about her. However, I have a feeling the murals in the theater look a lot like the paintings on the windows. The opera house was locked up during my visit. You’ll have to check out the Opera House’s official webpage for a peek inside.

You can still see them on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from November to May. Marta retired in 2012, but another performer, Jenna McClintock, took over the shows. After a few years, the outside world discovered Marta and her lonely performances, and actual humans started showing up. And since there were times when no one was in attendance, she painted an audience on the walls. She decided to rent the place, repair it, and hold performances several nights a week. While there, she noticed the building, peeked through a hole in the wall, and discovered an abandoned, crumbling theater. She was in town to get a flat tire fixed, following a few days of camping in Death Valley. The building was constructed in the 1920’s as part of a Borax company town, but it was in 1967 that Marta Beckett discovered it.

The Amargosa Opera House and Hotel is a performing arts center, out here in the middle of nowhere. But there’s one attraction here that actually draws a crowd. It would be easy to stop in Death Valley Junction, look around for a bit, and immediately write it off as a near-ghost town.

Amargosa opera house reviews