Amargosa Opera House’s Marta Becket, 87, announces her final performance

By Kristen Peterson

Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 | 3:55 p.m.

A little over a year ago, I drove out to visit the legendary Marta Becket at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. I’d heard that the then-86-year-old ballerina could no longer stand en pointe during her shows, or even walk onto the stage, and that she was performing from a chair in her one-woman show. Moreover, she was looking toward retirement, to bowing out. This next season’s performances would be her last.

I had to see her. I mistakenly pegged Becket as an immortal, immune to the world’s absurd life cycles. The fact that her knees and hip had slowly given out challenged this idea and broke my heart. It seemed she’d always be there in the desert, an artist living out our escapist fantasies, an exile of the daily grind, writing, directing, producing and performing in her show, living in relative solitude.

Like others, I’d fallen in love with Becket and her story, and fawned over the wild dream that she so successfully turned into reality when she left New York City for good and unpacked her things in a small California town built in the 1920s to house the workers of the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

Back in 2005, when Becket was 81, I walked the property with her and grant writer Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, as they discussed ways to preserve the old building. She knew the time would come when she’d have to hand over the reigns. I didn’t believe her, especially because she'd break into song, slipping into full character within the blink of an eye.

When I saw last saw her, in September 2010, she wheeled her electric scooter into the dining area of the hotel and, during candid conversations about life, death, fantasy and her final season, she’d sing, dipping into the repertoire of Becket-written jingles. Her honesty and odd creativity, as usual, was inspiring. It was a great day and, once again I felt lucky for her time.

But when the Pahrump Valley Times reported today that Becket’s retirement will come next month, that her next and last performance is scheduled for February 12, I felt my heart break again. After 45 years, Becket is really leaving the stage—and us.