The Hobart Art Theater is a locally-owned entertainment venue that is the perfect place to enjoy live entertainment. The theater has been a part of the Hobart community since 1941 and has recently been upgraded to accommodate live entertainment.
“It opened in 1941 as a single-screen movie theater and pretty much stayed that way up until 2018 when the previous owner was trying to incorporate more live entertainment and things like that,” Co-Owner Shane Evans said. “It's not quite that simple, but we bought it in 2019 and then really changed and transformed everything at that point by putting in professional sound and lighting production, making the stage bigger, and all that good stuff.”
Evans and his team are able to provide a local location for community members to come together to experience live music. People from Hobart and the surrounding areas can come to the theater and meet like-minded people while enjoying the concert.
“Music is designed to bring people together and to have one common passion for whatever music they're listening to at that time. Anytime you can get 500 people in a room that can agree on one thing, that's a win,” Evans said.
The theater now has events scheduled virtually every weekend including popular artists and tribute band concerts, comedy shows, and other national acts. Planning and putting on these events can be difficult, and problems can arise easily, but the theater staff is dedicated to providing the best experience for their guests.
“It doesn't always go as seamless as I'd like it to, but we have a great team in place from our promotional teams or our talent buyers to our management staff. They have a good handle now on how things run, and how they operate,” Evans said. “Standards are always high. We always want to shine. We always want to be the best and we always want to make sure our guests are seeing that. It's all a huge group effort.”
The Hobart Art Theater team puts so much effort into ensuring their guests have the best experience possible and sometimes are not able to take in the positive atmosphere of the event. The work pays off when employees are able to see the impact the theater is making on the community, and how much fun guests are having.
“I should stop once in a while and take a look around, but there's always so much going on that sometimes we lose sight of how we impact others and impact the community. Seeing people smile and laugh and sing and dance, making people happy, and seeing them enjoying that moment that we've been working hard to do is my favorite part of everything for sure.”
The hard work that Evans and his team put into the events does not always end with a big profit, but the real reward at the end of the night is being able to see the impact the theater is having on the community.
“Like any small business, sometimes it feels like a labor of love. It's not always putting out what you put into it or you might not get the financial return that you always want, but sometimes it's about more than money and, really making people happy and bringing a great thing to our area.”
Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry, former Motley Crue singer John Corabi, and countless other artists are coming to the Hobart Arts Theater soon. For tickets and more information, please visit facebook.com/HobartArtTheatre/ or brickartlive.com. For information regarding the City of Hobart, please visit cityofhobart.org.