It’s officially an interim role, but Hank Osterhout says he’s more than ready to lead the Emporia Granada Theatre for the short-term — and long-term, if need be.
Osterhout was named this past Friday after prior director Stacey Schneider resigned. On KVOE’s 8:05 am newscast Wednesday, he said Schneider’s decision to stay on as executive assistant was a big step.
Osterhout has been the theater’s production director and a board member recently. He says his overall goal is to raise the Granada’s visibility while improving the local arts picture as a whole.
The Granada is competing with several similar theaters just across Kansas, and it’s trying to attract top-quality performers with a capacity of under 900 people — making it difficult for the theater to make a profit off its concerts.
Osterhout is deep into planning for the 2024 Halfway to Everywhere Music and Arts Festival in September, and he has been merging Halfway with his previous arts organization, Kansas Free for Arts, since summer 2023. How his role as Granada director plays into his current responsibilities is to be determined.
The Granada Theatre Board of Directors has to conduct a national search, but Osterhout expressed his desire to serve as permanent director during the interview. One of his longstanding goals is to have the theater holding concerts up to five days a week.
