The formal opening of the New Spa took place on Friday, July 26th, 1935. Photo courtesy of NYS Parks brochure- “Mineral Springs Guide”

The history of the Spa Little Theater is like a 1,000-piece puzzle – intricate, layered, and only fully understood once all the pieces are assembled. Today, SPAC’s investment is finally completing the full picture.

Before zeroing in on this classic Harvard red brick building with limestone columns, it helps to step back to the turn of the 20th century, when Governor Alfred Smith created a special commission to explore developing a complete spa in Saratoga Springs. At that time, the land we now know as the Saratoga Spa State Park was a patchwork of individually and business-owned parcels. A 1935 map of acquisitions shows that the land where the Spa Little Theater stands today was once part of a 5.08-acre tract owned by Dr. John Clarke. This parcel, along with neighboring holdings, was absorbed into the Saratoga Spa development during the 1930s, providing the site for the theater that opened in 1935.

The theater was one piece of a much larger picture: a state-owned hydrotherapy and mineral research complex modeled after the grand spa towns of Europe, places like Carlsbad, Baden-Baden, and Vichy where healing waters and culture flowed side by side.

This 1940s postcard shows the heart of the complex.

A Laboratory, Not a Theater

On July 26, 1935, The Saratogian published an 18-page special edition highlighting the park's opening, proclaiming it to be: "Saratoga Spa: America's First Spa in European Sense of the Word." The paper said, "Built at the cost of nearly $10 million, the 10 buildings formed the most complete, government-owned health unit of its kind in the entire United States."

Like the border pieces that hold a puzzle together, the springs connect and define this complex. A feature in the September 1936 American Architect and Architect Magazine describes, "Although the buildings of the group are in architectural harmony, each is different in its detail."

Caption from Time magazine August 5, 1935 magazine:

This postcard illustrates the Hall of Springs in 1935 and shows the “ three circular yellow marble fountains, from which well Geyser, Hathorn and Coesa waters. Patients and visitors fill glasses at the fountains, stroll through the arcades sipping and gossiping until the waters work. An orchestra plays in a balcony.”

Surprisingly, the building was not originally constructed as a theater. It opened in 1935 as the Simon Baruch Research Institute, a mineral-water laboratory with experimental bathrooms for clinical study and a 574-seat auditorium designed to share findings with physicians and the public. The institute was named for Dr. Simon Baruch, a pioneering physician who developed Saratoga Cardiac Therapy through the careful prescribed use of mineral waters. Its mission, as officials declared at the time, was to be "a place where fuller knowledge of the use and possibilities of medicinal waters may be gained and perfected."

Dr. Walter McClennan was the medical director of the research institute. He lectured on the benefits of water in managing chronic heart and kidney diseases as well as arthritis. "Taking the cure" was to be done under doctors' directions, with patients constantly monitored and analyzed.

World War II shifted the complex's focus when the Roosevelt Baths were converted into a military hospital to treat wounded veterans. It is believed the theater was used to entertain the wounded soldiers.

Theater Takes the Stage

By 1946, the theater was operating as an entertainment venue featuring plays such as A Goose for the Gander starring famed silent movie actress Gloria Swanson. For the next decade and a half, the theater continued to feature big-name draws in summer plays.

The building has always been the state-owned Spa Little Theater, but programs often billed it under different titles depending on the producing company. Over the years, playbills billed it as the Spa Music Theater, the Spa Summer Theater, the John Houseman Theatre, or Home Made Theater. These weren't official name changes, but rather reflections of the companies and productions that came and went inside its walls.

In my lifetime, the Spa Little Theater has had three especially memorable eras: the early–mid-1960s seasons of the Spa Music Theater, the 1970s years of the John Houseman Summer Theater when The Acting Company artists such as Patty LuPone, Robin Williams and Kevin Kline took the stage, and the 1986–2020 tenure of Home Made Theater. Each of these phases left a lasting mark on thousands of people—whether they were fortunate enough to perform on its stage or to watch from one of the theater's roughly 500 seats.

1951

After a dormant summer in 1961, the theater sprang back to life when downstate actor and Pace College professor Ray Rizzo and his wife, Betty, took over with an ambitious ten-week season of high-quality summer-stock musicals. Rizzo's resident company brought Broadway to the park, helping to fill a cultural void. My mother reviewed many of the musicals for the Post Star and often brought my older sister Pam along with her. Pam's lifelong love of musicals began after attending the 1962 production of Bye, Bye Birdie. The LP became the soundtrack of our shared bedroom, its title song looping in my mind's background for years.

Newspapers as far away as Baltimore covered the 1962–1966 seasons, which featured four professional actors and nine Eastman or Juilliard graduate interns. In 1966, Rizzo made a bold programming shift, replacing part of the musical lineup with three weeks of drama — including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and Marat/de Sade.

The Rizzos' transition from a full summer-stock season to film festivals came soon after SPAC opened in 1966. With two major venues in the park, competition for audiences likely made it difficult for the Little Theater to sustain its earlier pace. When the Rizzos passed away, their more than ten years as producers at the Spa Little Theater were highlighted as defining achievements in both of their obituaries.

Surprisingly, the building was not originally constructed as a theater. It opened in 1935 as the Simon Baruch Research Institute, a mineral-water laboratory with experimental bathrooms for clinical study and a 574-seat auditorium designed to share findings with physicians and the public. The institute was named for Dr. Simon Baruch, a pioneering physician who developed Saratoga Cardiac Therapy through the careful prescribed use of mineral waters. Its mission, as officials declared at the time, was to be "a place where fuller knowledge of the use and possibilities of medicinal waters may be gained and perfected."

Dr. Walter McClennan was the medical director of the research institute. He lectured on the benefits of water in managing chronic heart and kidney diseases as well as arthritis. "Taking the cure" was to be done under doctors' directions, with patients constantly monitored and analyzed.

World War II shifted the complex's focus when the Roosevelt Baths were converted into a military hospital to treat wounded veterans. It is believed the theater was used to entertain the wounded soldiers.

Although films were successful in this space, the live stage experience at the Little Theater created a lifelong memory for countless locals and budding actors. 

Well-known Saratogian Susan Bokan said the theater was seminal in her life."In the 60s, I got a job working in the set department and became close to the set designer Tom Munn. I got a part in the world premiere of a Pirandello play at the end of that summer. This led to my deep love of musical theater. I joined Tom the next summer at a Connecticut summer stock company, and we were briefly engaged. After I transferred to NYU theater school, my engagement ended once the big city bright lights got hold of me, " said Susan.

Other former Saratogians shared pivotal experiences from their time on this theater's stage. 

Flight attendant and part-time actress Audrey Looye moved here in the 1990s from New York City. The theater helped her stay connected to acting and became the venue for her final Skidmore project—six playlets for her theater degree. After appearing in numerous professional roles in television and film, she recalls her most memorable performance as playing Maudie Atkinson in Home Made Theater's production of To Kill a Mockingbird.

"It's not often that you get to be involved in a theatrical project with such depth. The play was updated so skillfully and nearly sold out its entire three-week run. We even did extra shows for local schools, and I found the live stage performance gave me the confidence to do almost any kind of acting," said Audrey in an interview from her Los Angeles home.

Music was also integral to the theater’s identity. Lake George Opera's history, as detailed on their website, describes its move to the theater in 1998. "The 500-seat theater proved a perfect venue for intimate opera." The company later became known as Opera Saratoga and continued to perform in the venue.

Classical music fans also enjoyed performances of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, in residence since 2013 and now a year-round fixture.

The Four Seasons Campaign: The Next Piece of the Puzzle

For nearly a century, the Spa Little Theater has stretched beyond its original purpose—shifting from laboratory to lecture hall, from stage to screen, from summer stock to opera—yet always without the updates needed to truly thrive. Now, through SPAC’s Four Seasons Campaign, the theater will finally become what it was always meant to be: a home for performance and community year-round.

Recently, CEO Elizabeth Sobol and President Chris Shiley met with me to discuss the upcoming $12 million campaign, the largest fundraising effort in SPAC’s 59-year history, undertaken in partnership with New York State Parks with support from Empire State Development and Governor Kathy Hochul. Just as the natural world moves through its seasons, the campaign reflects SPAC’s expanded role as a four-season presenter—nurturing, restoring, and sustaining the cultural life of our region.

"We chose the name Four Seasons to emphasize SPAC’s year-round care and attention, and its place in nature," said Elizabeth Sobol.

Renovated Theater

"There will be no wrecking balls. The project is equal parts restoration and renewal," Chris Shiley added.

The key piece of the project is the creation of a backstage area, which was never part of the original lecture auditorium.

Shiley explained, "The only way we could make the design work was by creating a true backstage, which was achieved thanks to our partnership with NYS Parks. They graciously allowed us to repurpose two of their spaces, enabling us to relocate the artist rooms and free up more space for the public. That’s what made the whole project come together."

New Lobby and Entrance