Liberty Theatre Hartshorne, Oklahoma

History of the Liberty Theatre

The Liberty Theatre in Hartshorne, Oklahoma was opened in 1919 under the ownership of the Buffo Family. It was originally built for live stage performances and produced many hours of live entertainment for the surrounding community. As time passed and the movie industry began to grow, live performances were replaced with the big movie screen of the day. Down through the years, many of the local folks would look forward to the weekend when the screen would come alive. Many went to see the same show twice and would even borrow money from parents or friends to go back. Many people even stayed late at night for what was known as the pre-show. It was a place of entertainment that parents could send their children and not worry about them because they knew that they were under the watchful eye of the Buffo’s. Entire families could spend the evening together knowing that the entertainment would be something that the whole family would enjoy.

For years the Theatre was the main attraction for the local people. As time passed and modern technology began to take hold, and videos began to become more readily available the Theatre was not the attraction it used to be. The business changed ownership a couple of times and then was shut down for about 3 years.

In 2000 Mr. Jerry Earp purchased the building and once more brought it back to its original purpose of an auditorium for live performances, in hopes of promoting the Arts in Southeast Oklahoma. In hopes of restoring the auditorium as much as possible to its original look, he has been taking it one room at a time. The lobby now has its original tile floor uncovered and showing once again. A few modern touches have been added, such as mirrors and a chandelier. The concessions stand has been remodeled with a new ceramic tile floor and new paint job.

We have youths and adults that are learning so much about live Theatre while performing on stage at the Liberty. We now have a girl that just spent her summer performing in a show at NSU in Tahlequah and is furthering her music education there this fall. We have a boy who is attending OCU in Oklahoma City on a Music Scholarship. These performers have held lead roles in “Annie Get You Gun”, “ Hello Dolly”, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.” We have one cast member who has performed on “Next Big Star” and has entered talent shows in Branson. One girl also auditioned in Nashville. We are proud of the talent that we have here in our area, and are thrilled to have them as cast members at the Liberty.

The Liberty Theatre Players have just recently recorded their first CD featuring each member on solo as well as group numbers. They perform a live show from Country, 50’s, Gospel, Comedy and Dance. They perform dinner shows about 3 times a year. And just recently performed their first Dinner Theatre with actors and actresses from around the area.

There are a lot of things that we would like to do with the 400 seat Theatre. We rent it out to other performers. We have a dance studio wanting to use it for their dance recitals; therefore we need to extend the stage and build dressing rooms back stage. We have installed new wiring but need to replace a lot more. We are having to do the remodeling and expansions slowly as funds are available. It is taking a while as we do not want to just throw things together, as our goal is a top of the line entertainment facility with entertainment the whole family can enjoy. Our performances have something that the youngest to the oldest can leave knowing they have been entertained. We are hoping to be able to bring in some big name entertainers to perform at the Liberty. We are trying to keep and restore as much of the original fixtures as possible, and a few of the metal ceiling tiles need to be replaced. Two rows of our seats are close to the original seats there for they are narrower than modern ones, and we would like to replace them in the near future.

We have a state of the art sound system with all cordless microphones and lighting system. It takes a lot to produce the shows we perform, and our shows are Branson Style, with all of the glitz and glitter in costuming and style. We have had people drive from Fayetteville Arkansas, Dallas Texas, Ada, Oklahoma City, and the surrounding areas to our shows.

As one newspaper reporter stated it….”If you miss a performance at the Liberty….you’ve missed it”