The George West Mansion was purchased in 2001 by Jeffrey Wodicka and Neil Castro of Saratoga Springs and since 2002 has operated as The Mansion of Saratoga.
Located about 7 miles in a straight line down Route 29 from downtown Saratoga Springs, the historic inn at 801 Route 29, Rock City Falls, features a full slate of high-quality concerts in an intimate outdoor setting with a light fare menu created by Executive Chef Rick Bieber, a classically trained French Chef who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Collage of Culinary Arts.
This season’s staged offerings include everything from singing favorites from the Great American Songbook and a musical journey through 80 years of movies and musicals, to celebrated Broadway performers and feel-good ‘90s Boy Band nostalgia
Q: How did you find your way to the Mansion Inn?
Jeffrey Wodicka: Neil and I bought the property after 9/11. We were driving through downtown Saratoga and one of the big Victorians was for sale and I did one of those, ‘I wonder what these things sell for,’ and looked it up. It didn’t come up, but what did was The Mansion on Route 29. We ended up owning it about three weeks later.
What we didn’t know was that we bought the historic George West mansion. George West was a tycoon in the period from the Civil War to the turn of the century. His claim to fame was he invented the flat-bottom paper bag that we (still) use every day. Isn’t that crazy? He was so rich he had his own railroad train that would bring him to the Mansion in Rock City Falls. And if you know where to look in the weeds, between Route 29 and the Kaydeross, his station is still there.
Q: In addition to The Stars Are Out Tonight Concert Series, which kicks off this weekend, what are some of the other happenings at the Mansion Inn?
JW: What we’re really focused on is being an Event Venue. That ranges from large weddings to business meetings, and private parties – from anniversary and birthday parties to special events.
Q: How did the concert series come about?
JW: This is our seventh or eighth year doing this. My partner and I were thinking: It’s one thing to go SPAC and see the ballet and the orchestra, or to go to Proctors and see a traveling road show, but what would be neat is to bring up some top names, some who people know, some who they probably don’t know but who are unbelievable in the degree of talent they have, and to put them in an intimate setting. There’s no more than 130 people in the house. Every seat is orchestra, so to speak. And afterwards, they actually get to meet these people, take pictures with them and mingle with them.
So, we took the old George West carriage house and turned it into a theater. The wood is seasoned, it dates to the 1860’s, so the sound quality is phenomenal. The performers say it’s like playing inside of a violin, and we were doing that until COVID hit.
Q: How are you safely setting things up for the 2021 season?
JW: This year, we said: let’s change this around. Let’s operate out on the deck. It’s a huge deck and it’s tented. They key is there are no sides. It’s exterior seating, but it’s protected from the elements. If it rains, we’re covered. So we moved the stage and the sound system to the deck, and we’re doing table seating - with your own party. That’s key. You can’t go in and sit with anybody. The tables are socially distanced, and each concert will follow the latest COVID rules and regulations that are in place at the time of the event. The capacity right now is at 80 to 100, and we can probably go to 130. The Tickets range from $45 to $60, and we have a full bar and will have a light fare menu by our Executive Chef Rick Bieber.
The shows:
May 21: Seth Sikes – Runnin’ Wild – Great American Songbook with a Modern Twist.
June 4: Josh Young & Emily Padgett – Broadway at the Movies.
July 9: Boy Band Project – Under the Stars. July 11: Boy Band Project Brunch.
July 16: Brian Charles Rooney – The Trouble Concert.
July 23: Adam Pascal – A 20 Year Retrospective. The Original Roger on Broadway in “RENT.”
July 30: Jarrod Spector & Kelli Barrett – The Broadway Powerhouse Couple.
Aug. 6: Jenn Colella – Comedian & Tony Nominee in Concert.
Aug. 15: Kelli Rabke – TINY GIANTS – Petite Females with Big Voices.
Aug. 27 & 28: Nicole Henry – The Music of Whitney Houston.
Tickets are available via online at: themansionsaratoga.com.
