Steve Harris, owner of the Variety Playhouse for 25 years, has entertained a generation of Atlantans, staging concerts by the likes of Adele, Ryan Adams, Elvis Costello and (returning Friday) Leo Kottke.
Now, Harris is entertaining the idea of selling. He said this week he’s received an offer for the business and that a decision would be reached by the first of November.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “They don’t have a lease worked out.”
Harris wouldn’t comment on the source of the offer. “I signed all sorts of nondisclosure stuff,” he said.
Stomp and Stammer, a free weekly music news publication, reported that Agon Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Georgia Theatre in Athens and two minor league baseball teams, had bought the Variety as of Oct. 1.
Not true, Harris said, adding that any deal wouldn’t take place until November.
The agreement with a seller, if it is reached, would mean that Harris would stay on for “at least” a year to help manage the business, he said.
Harris doesn’t own the building, a 1940 former movie palace in Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood. The purchaser would receive such intangibles as the rights to the lease and the name.
Harris said he could stay longer, “depending how it goes. If I can stomach working for somebody. I don’t play well with others, as Wendy likes to say,” meaning his wife, Wendy Weeks.
As to whether the deal will go through, he said, “I’m not counting on this happening.”
A spokesman for Agon was not available.
The Variety is known for its eclectic mix of acts, including local and national names.
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