SPECIAL TO THE PVT At left, The Cockroach Theatre performs "The Methusaleh Tree" at Albert's Tarantella at the Goldwell Outdoor Art Museum at Rhyolite later this month. Top, Threshold Dance Theater will put on an interpretive dance piece. And at right, local Beatty musician Rodney Leach will perform a variety of his compositions as well. Advertisement

The Goldwell Open Air Museum in Rhyolite has a special Halloween-themed evening scheduled for 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20.

"Albert's Tarantella" is the chance for Director Suzanne Hackett-Morgan to show off the renovated red barn on the property and bring the museum and the rather colorful type of cultivated artistic expression left to stand against the elements, into recognition by the locals.

The museum already has notoriety, enough to draw the attention of the Smithsonian Institute in an effort to "Save the Outdoor Art".

The Last Supper, a ghostly, larger than life depiction of Christ and His disciples, was created from plaster by the late Belgian artist Albert Szukalski. It was the first of several exhibits on display in the open air museum and meant to disappear ... eroding away through exposure to the elements.

When Szukalski died in 2000, the Goldwell property and its artworks came into the sole ownership of his business partner who lives in Amargosa Valley. In March 2000, a nonprofit was established and the property and artworks were donated through it, allowing for preservation, restoration and artist expression to continually offer something different in the way of culture to Nye County.

The museum's long-range plan includes offering an artist residency program, publications, public workshops, educational programs, concerts and performances and a fine art press.

"Albert's Tarantella," so named after Albert Szukalski, is the first of the performances and is going to be an evening of oddities, fashioned to open the "normal" perception of reality to new ideas and new concepts of cultural expression. It is not a venue for children.

The program will begin with a theatrical performance of "The Methuselah Tree" by the Cockroach Theatre of Las Vegas.

Cockroach defines the style of performance as "defiant theater' and is the first wedge in the perception of reality.

The play, written by UNLV graduate, Jayme McGhan, is a dark comedy set in the basement laboratory of a scientist who sees the world as it is -- sinful, deviant, and selfish. His plan is to aid humanity in the creation of something ingested that changes the human psyche from what it is, to what it should be: perfect and without sin or sinful desire.

The ensuing events are unforeseen and lead to nervous laughter as it takes the audience down the ironic road of perceived perfection and the inevitable loss of the true human spirit in the wake.

Levi Fackrell, one of the founders said, "This play is not 'My Fair Lady.' It is raw and edgy and defies what most people think theater should be. It has a religious dichotomy and is absurd and funny at the same time. "

The Cockroach Theatre has been performing nationally and internationally since 2002 and is composed mostly of graduates from the UNLV theater department. Others have joined the group from various Las Vegas shows and Suzanne Hackett-Morgan, director of the Goldwell Museum said, "The Cockroach Theatre is well regarded for their performances and the quality of their productions."

When the play ends and the audience is pondering the outcome, the Threshold Dance Theater, also of Las Vegas, will move the performance forward and give closure to the spiritual "ghosts" of the play.

The Threshold Dance Theater is bringing only three of the nine members of the dance company to perform. Most of the artists have been either interested in dance, taking classes, teaching or performing for most of their lives. They all hold other jobs and through the dance company have fulfilled every dancer's desire to express an idea in movement.

Petrina Olson, founder of Threshold Dance said, "The performance is an interpretive dance to move the audience through the closure of the play lift their spirits and prepare them to move outside for the reception and the band outside."

Once the performances have ended inside, they continue outside with a reception and a "back to earth" performance by local Beatty musician, Rodney Leach.

Leach depicts the perfect Old West entertainer. His music is more traditional country and classic cowboy songs.

As a part of the venue, participants get another view of reality from an audio presentation on "Kymaerica" by "geographer-at-large," Eames Demitrios.

Hackett-Morgan said, "Kymaerica is an ongoing work of art that is part storytelling, part performance and part design. It creates an alternative history for real landscapes."

If that explanation isn't clear enough, Demetrios explained it this way, "It is a reinterpretation of the North American landscape. It tries to give people an alternate experience when they are in this linear world. Some of it is magical, some of it is humorous and some of it is textural. It is trying to create a psychological environment."

The evening promises to be different and entertaining. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the door. Go to goldwellmuseum.org to purchase tickets online or call the Goldwell Open Air Museum at 702-870-9946 for more information.

The Gold Well Open Air Museum is located approximately 4 miles west of Beatty off of Highway 374 near the ghost town of Rhyolite. Beatty is 76 miles north of Pahrump on Highway 95.