Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Barta Explained

Sarah was wondering who Barta Heiner is. Some of you may not be wondering. And some of you don't care, but you will get the chance to know who she is here and now. Lucky, lucky Tuesday! (if you don't care and this is where you sign off, one quick thing before you go- hey, have a lovely day! Come back tomorrow when, hopefully, I will have something you might be interested in)

So, when I was at BYU I had an awesome roommate. Our apartment was way close to campus. We started out one fall semester living with a couple of psycho girls. I mean, REALLY PSYCHO!! We lived with them for about 2 weeks before we started searching diligently for a new place to live.

(former roommate-
if you are reading this
please correct any details,
or add anything I have omitted)
(former psycho roommates-
if you are reading this
I hope you got some help,
because you were really freaky!)

It was tricky, because we would have to sell our apartment contracts to someone so that we wouldn't be stuck paying a year's worth of rent on a contract where we didn't live anymore. We even had to have a student housing mediation to get out of the contract. The managers didn't want to let us sell our contracts. I think I already mentioned it was tricky.

Our contracts sold and we found a house far off-campus (BYU approved, of course) that was awesome! It was owned by a single guy who we became pretty good friends with. He had furnished the house pretty awesomely- the front room had a mustard/gold velvet sectional and mustard/gold velvet swivel rocking chairs. It was pure 60's bliss- and it wasn't even the 60's anymore. But, I will say that it was in pristine condition, so that is nice. (and I have some pretty good stories from living here)

Anyway, we had no t.v. We decided we wanted a t.v. So we scoured the classifieds and found a large t.v. for sale. We contacted the owner and made arrangements to go and have a look-see. (who uses that term? i did, just now for like maybe the second time in my life)

We arrived at the historic home in Provo to view this television set. There was a reddish-orange mustang in the driveway and large trees flanked the home. We were met at the door by a girl in her 20's. She was a student living at this address. We told her we had come to see the t.v. that was advertised. She said, "Oh, ok. Do you go to BYU? Do you know Barta?"

We said, "No."
She said, "Barta Heiner lives here. You know. Barta Heiner."
We still said, "No."

She proceeded to tell us about Barta. Apparently Barta is famous. Who knew? She is the head of the theatre department at BYU and has been in some productions. We did not know this. But then, out came Barta Heiner. We met her. We did not recognize her from Adam. We had never seen her productions. But, WE MET BARTA HEINER. We even bought her television. And we talked about it the rest of the school year.

So, my roommate and I returned home with the television we had purchased (I think we paid all of $13 for it) from Barta Heiner. You know. Barta Heiner. And what better to purchase from Barta Heiner, Movie Star and head of the theatre department, than a television? I know!
Meeting Barta + meeting her student boarder x buying her t.v. = an experience never to be forgotten.

Fast forward 7 years. One day I retrieved my mail from the mailbox and found that my April 2003 Ensign had been delivered that very day. I also discovered that it had a DVD inside- Finding Faith in Christ. Immediately I popped that DVD into the player and began watching a beautiful depiction of the Savior. All of a sudden, there on my very own television screen was Barta Heiner! depicting a diseased woman that the Savior heals. I was stunned. All I could think of doing was alerting my old roommate. It was crazy. I turned to the husband and said, "That is Barta Heiner!! You know. Barta Heiner!"

And to think that I saw her. In my very own home. On my very own television.




It was so fun to write about Barta that I think I might do it again. Would you like to hear more about Barta? I have another Barta story that you will either love or not.

17 comments:

Jess said...

you are hilarious.. i would love to hear more about barta heiner. thanks for your uplifting attitude constantly!!

Kellie said...

tell me more about Barta. I'm totally going to have to put in my Finding Faith in Christ movie now so I can see her. I wonder if she's on IMDB?

Kellie said...

I just checked and she is on IMDB, but no picture, so I still have to go put on my movie.

Me (aka Danielle) said...

Wow! Until now, I had never heard of Barta. But now, my eyes have been opened..Must add 'Meet Barta' (or at least see her in a film) to my list of things to do before I die. Please tell us more!

Chris said...

Yes, can you share the poster story?

Mechelle said...

hmm, intriguing. Yes we must learn more of this Barta from BYU.

uniquelynat said...

i don't recall ever hearing that one! guess that's what happens when you are the little sister and did not attend the "Y". very funny. you must be one of the luckiest people alive. and did you know....I am RELATED to someone who bought a tv from barta heiner!!! i know.

Owner said...

that's awesome!! you should start a six degress of barta heiner, like a mormon version of the kevin bacon game!

Carolyn said...

College stories! Love them, too bad I didn't get to meet Barta at BYU! :(

Kellie said...

I replied to your comment on my blog, but I thought I'd do it here, too. I got my son's shirt at Old Navy. I love their kid clothes because when they go on sale I can actually afford them. This particular day Emma pooped her outfit as we were leaving the store. I hadn't bought anything for her and so we had to go back into Old Navy and get her something to wear that wasn't poop-covered.

Ginny said...

haha! Your stories never cease to amaze me! I was totally wondering who Barta Heiner was as I was reading your last post but was too afraid to ask becasue I thought maybe everyone already knew who she was....afterall, she is FAMOUS!

Jae said...

Thank you Steph!!! I really needed that rememberance of Barta. She's always in my mind, you know, I've never forgotten her and the way you put that into words gave her all the glory she deserve!!!! Good old Garrett. And those roommates were psycho. Let's hope they don't read this! And fyi, that off campus apt we moved into wasn't BYU approved. You remember that grief they gave us??? But the couch was lovely. And remember that mouse friend we had in our dryer???!!!!

Sunny Dawn said...

pacriHow absolutely wonderful!
I…that’s a shouted, underlined “I”…I would love to hear your other Barta Heiner Story. I was looking up old friends and stumbled on your blog. Most excellent, by the way.
Barta was a friend of mine at BYU, late 60’s….my roommate and most of my friends were drama students, that’s how I first met her. I was in the art department, same building (which was new back then) but a thousand miles apart in how we plied our craft. Not that the Arts don’t overlap quite a bit now and then.
I know your post was a long time ago….but if you would share, I would love to listen….uh, read.
Thanks.

Unknown said...

I first saw Barta when I was REALLY young and watching "Blind Love" a BYU-made movie from, like, forever ago. I liked her then and I like her now and I'm totally jealous that you met her at her very own house and practically stole her t.v. for only 13 dollars. Your post cracked me up, and I'm pretty sure I had the same seriously psycho roommates.

Treble Clef ♪ said...

Well, I stumbled on your blog and absolutely loved this post:) I do know Barta Heiner. She was my acting professor at BYU over 35 years ago. She is a legend and an amazing actress and kind person.(She also has an a beautiful singing voice.) My daughters grew up knowing her name and her movies and cartoon voiceovers and radio dramas, etc, etc...When they were little I took them to a premiere of a film she was in and introduced them to her. They were in awe:) They speak her name in reverence in our home...haha. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Barta Heiner alert!!! "Once I was a Beehive" coming to a theatre near you! (I know Barta through my sister who worked at BYU). She is awesome! (By the way, I just read an article from 2008 - same year you first posted about Barta and found this quote) "I believe she is the finest LDS actress of her generation."

Anonymous said...

I love Barta Heiner! We both lived on Canyon Road in Ogden, Utah growing up. We acted together in some high school productions at Ben Lomond High School. She and I were in Cinderella; we played two of the ugly step sisters. Interesting because my feet were way smaller than Cinderella's. We did Hansel and Gretal as well. She was Gretal and my brother, Jim played Hansel. Mostly I just loved hanging out with Barta. We have remained friends over these many years and indeed I feel honored to know such an amazing woman. ❤️ whenever I am in Utah we try to get together to catch up on what is happening in one another's lives. I cannot wait to see "Once I was a Beehive". For us the Beehive mantra was "Greet the day with a song, make others happy and serve gladly ". A natural gift of Barta's. I agree with everyone else who has written on this Blog, that is, I Know Barta Heiner! She is indeed awesome! She is also one of the kindest individuals I have ever known. I repeat: "I love Barta Heiner"! Helen Lehman of Edmond, Oklahoma