A management team is now in place at the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium with the hiring of four more people, including three with ties to the area and one, new General Manager Dave Holscher, with a long history of running venues in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Charleston, S.C.
In September, Ashley McCue was named executive director of the Tivoli Foundation, the group created by the city of Chattanooga to oversee the fund-raising and the direction of the facilities. The foundation later contracted with AC Entertainment in Knoxville to program and manage the venues, and AC has since put together the staff to do that.
The team
› Dave Holscher: general manager › Ashley McCue: executive director of Tivoli Foundation › Jordan Hallquist: assistant general manager › Courtney Keene: event manager › Carolyn Whitaker: event manager
AC recently hired Holscher, along Jordan Hallquist as the new assistant general manager, and Courtney Keene and Carolyn Whitaker as event managers.
Before taking the position Holscher was the general manager of the North Charleston Coliseum, the Charleston Performing Arts Center and the Charleston Area Convention Center. Before that he was assistant general manager of the Target Center NBA Arena in Minneapolis, event manager of the Bradley Center NBA Arena in Milwaukee, and general manager of the Oshkosh (Wis.) Center/Grand Theater.
Holscher was in place when the facilities in Charleston opened and, while both Chattanooga venues are nearly a century old, he sees similarities to where the entertainment scene in Chattanooga is today and where Charleston was a decade ago.
“This feels like about where Charleston was 10 years ago,” he said.
He believes the two venues are part of a larger entertainment scene that needs to be looked at as a whole. Booking more and bigger shows at the venues is just part of the goal for the future. He hopes to partner with downtown restaurants and clubs, for example, to create an entertainment experience that will make people think of making a night on the town a regular occasion.
He said the goal is to “make sure that everyone who comes to the Tivoli or auditorium has a great experience. We want people to want to come here and have a great time so they want to come back.”
He said that includes everyone from the people working an event to the artists who perform there and the patrons who buy tickets.
Hallquist is a local musician/promoter who has worked with bands at Rhythm & Brews and Tremont Tavern over the years.
“I’ve done everything from playing to booking bands and helping the ones from out of town get whatever they need,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with Dave and helping out with things and learning about new things.”
Keene and Whitaker are also both longtime Chattanooga residents. Their roles will be to help facilitate that positive experience that Holscher mentioned. For almost 20 years, Keene has worked in the music industry as both a tour manager or cook for artists such as Eric Clapton, Miley Cyrus and Celine Dion. She also has been a personal assistant for Jennifer Lopez and Trent Reznor.
Whitaker is a UTC graduate who has worked in the food industry and for the local startup American Exchange.
“We’re going to be making sure that from the time an event starts to when it’s over people feel like they’ve had a good experience and expectations have been met,” Whitaker said. “From the ticket takers to the audience, everyone should leave happy.”
Keene said her past experiences in the industry should all come together in her new role.
“I had to make sure the artists and all of the teams worked together to plan and schedule everything and then make it work, she said. “Plus, I grew up around those venues. My dad is in the [musicians] union, so I’m excited to see them grow and for people to be more aware of them.”
Contact staff writer Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.