Author: Jonathon Norcross

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In 1953, Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” dramatized the Salem witch trials and delivered a broadside against McCarthyism. 

Today, in a time of heightened political polarization and vitriol, Miller’s drama about mass hysteria eroding a community feels especially pertinent. 

“Everywhere we turn, fear is driving our country,” Toni Anderson-Sommo, the director of Home Made Theater’s upcoming production of “The Crucible,” told Saratoga TODAY. “Fear, greed, the desire for power, revenge—these kinds of things are still the motivation that drive mankind to act in unconscionable ways.”

Home Made Theater has been staging plays and musicals in the Spa City since 1985, yet this is the first time it’s performing “The Crucible.”

“I’m a retired English teacher—both college and junior and senior high school—and I have taught this now for 38 years,” Anderson-Sommo said. “I think from the very first year that I taught it, I realized it was going to be the very first thing I taught my students every single academic year, and that has been the case. It’s never lost its relevancy.”

Anderson-Sommo opted for a more traditional adaptation of the play, in part because she hopes audiences will leave the Saratoga Music Hall with their own interpretation of Miller’s original work.

“I want the audience to walk out really thinking about what they’ve just seen and trying to analyze it,” she said. “When you read a book, you come to the book with all of your life experiences behind you. No two readers are going to have the same reaction or imaginings of what the book is like. It’s very individual. I think that process of watching that is what fascinates me and keeps me coming back.”

The production will feature some faces familiar to those in the local theater world. Dianne O’Neill, who serves on Home Made Theater’s board of directors, will play Rebecca Nurse.  Bridget Dunigan, who works at the Lake George Dinner Theater, will take on the role of Elizabeth Proctor. Matthew Crowley, a Home Made Theater veteran, will inhabit the character of John Proctor.

“Between Bridget Dunigan and Matt Crowley, these two actors bring us to tears every single rehearsal,” Anderson-Sommo said. “They just keep layering their characters and adding more depth to them.”

One fresh face on the stage will be Paul Angelo, playing Reverend Samuel Parris.

“I always feel like [Samuel Parris] is played one dimensionally,” Anderson-Sommo said. “Looking at the historical documents, you realize that there were many things happening in that community that made these characters react as they did. Paul is able to be arrogant, vulnerable, angry. He runs the gamut of emotions as he’s doing Parris.”

On Feb. 14, Anderson-Sommo and her troupe will move into the Saratoga Music Hall, which serves as Home Made Theater’s performance space. The company rehearses inside a former storefront at the Wilton Mall.

Home Made used to be housed in the Spa Little Theater, but that venue was taken over by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in 2022. Spa Little Theater is currently undergoing a $12 million renovation.

Performances of “The Crucible” will run from Feb. 20 to March 1, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets or more information, visit homemadetheater.org/.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Is social media more terrifying than a monster?

In “Trad Wife,” the latest horror novel from author Saratoga Schaefer, that question lurks beneath the story’s surface. 

Camille, the novel’s main character, incessantly seeks validation from social media as she tries to manifest the “perfect” homemaker lifestyle. But when she struggles to get pregnant, she calls upon sinister forces for aid.

“I think one of the fun things about this book is that there’s the obvious horror,” Schaefer told Saratoga TODAY, “But the real horror is the social horror that comes through the relationship and the power imbalance [Camille] has with her husband, and then also the obsession she has with social media and needing to present a certain way online and needing people to like her. That, I think, is more frightening than the overt horror.”

A traditional wife or “trad” wife is a recent phenomenon that has seen young women reject much of the modern world to revert back to a simpler and, they contend, happier existence. Instead of spending all day in an office hunched over a keyboard, they spend the day cooking, taking care of kids, and maintaining an impeccably designed home—all for the benefit of their social media followers.

A number of studies have been conducted in an effort to better understand this trend. According to researchers at King’s College London, “the glamorization of domesticated roles for women is less a genuine embrace of tradition and more a plea from younger generations, reflecting what they describe as the impossible balance demanded by modern work and family life.” Two researchers at the University of Pennsylvania posit that mainstream feminists and trad wives are both “responding to the same broken system, but in very different ways. While each is rooted in women’s rage, the direction and consequences of that rage diverge sharply.”

Schaefer’s portrayal of Camille is complex. In some ways, Camille is sympathetic. In other ways, she’s profoundly unlikeable. But for much of the story, she seems to be under the spell of social media, which results in Camille doing things she knows are wrong.

“She is actively deluding herself for a good portion of the book,” Schaefer said. “I really wanted to get into the mindset of somebody who is a younger person who is attracted to this lifestyle.”

Camille chooses to discard facts and critical thinking in favor of agreeing with social media personalities who can bestow upon her more followers and fame. Camille’s obsession with portraying herself as the perfect influencer leads to horrendous consequences, some real and others supernatural. Trapped in a “Rosemary’s Baby” scenario in which she is pregnant with a creature that is less than human, Camille continues to post through the pain, pretending that her life is perfect when, in fact, it’s spiraling towards disaster.

To reveal more of the plot would spoil the fun. Though “Trad Wife” explores real issues, it’s also a spooky story with elements reminiscent of “Midsommar,” “The Witch,” and, of course, “Rosemary’s Baby.”

Schaefer’s new novel will be released on Feb. 10. Two days later, they’ll be in person at the Northshire Bookstore for a conversation with fellow author Dennis Mahoney. It’ll be an event in Saratoga featuring a person named Saratoga. Yes, it’s a bit unusual, and yes, Schaefer was named after the Spa City.

“I love my name,” Schaefer said. “I understand that people do a little bit of a double take when I say it.”

They’ll be doing a double take when they read the shocking yet thoughtful “Trad Wife” too. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joel Moss, the Caffe Lena broadcast and sound technician who passed away last year, was honored during the Grammy Awards’ “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday night. 

Moss’ long and illustrious career in the music business earned him 6 Grammy wins and 11 nominations. 

“From working with music legends to championing artists and music education close to home, Joel’s impact reached far beyond any single stage,” said Caffe Lena in a social media post. “We are grateful for all he gave to our community and to the world of music.”

Moss’ final award at the Grammys came in 2015, when he won Best Musical Theater Album for “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” His previous wins also included Best Musical Show Album for “In The Heights” in 2009, and Album Of The Year for “Genius Loves Company” in 2005.

Moss was a record producer, sound engineer, and mixer who recorded albums for artists such as Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, Little Richard, and Joe Cocker. His life and career began in Detroit, where he led a Hebrew folk quintet called The Hi-Liters that played at Lena in 1963. In the Saratoga area, he recorded and produced several albums for charity, including “A Saratoga Christmas Wish,” which raised $70,000 for Make-A-Wish Northeast New York.