Judy Morr Theater Named After Segerstrom Center Executive

Center Chairman Lawrence L. Higby announced at the 41st Annual Candlelight Concert that Founders Hall would be renamed in honor of longtime Segerstrom Center executive Judith (Judy) O'Dea Morr. Earlier that week, the Center's Board of Directors voted unanimously on the new name of the Judy Morr Theater.

"On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, it is our tremendous honor to celebrate the incredible contributions of Judy with this new name," Higby stated. "We hope that she will continue to work her magic for many years to come. But with this name, we know that Judy will always be an unforgettable presence here at the Center."

Center President Terrence W. Dwyer added, "Judy has been an unmatched creative force throughout the life of the Center. This new name is a heartfelt recognition of the tremendous accomplishments of Judy, who has brought the Center to life for more than 30 years with her creativity, her passion and her delightfully generous spirit."

Judy Morr Theater will be the heart of the recently announced American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which opens January 8 & 9 with special complimentary introductory classes. "It will be so rewarding to see future generations of great dancers training in a theater named for someone who has done so very much for dance and for Orange County," stated Dwyer.

Morr is executive vice president of Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She came to the Center as general manager in 1985 before its 1986 opening. Prior to joining the Center, Morr was general manager of theaters at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She has played a major role in guiding Segerstrom Center to become one of the nation's most prestigious performing arts institutions. The Center presents a broad range of the most significant national and international productions of music, dance and theater to audiences from throughout Southern California and countless visitors to the region.

Guided by Morr, Segerstrom Center has earned a reputation as one of the most important centers for dance in the United States, enjoying the respect and admiration of dance companies, performing arts organizations and critics around the world. Nearly every leading dance company has appeared at the Center, and Segerstrom Center has presented, and at times, has produced an impressive list of world, American and West Coast premieres.

Among the many history-making projects Morr has helped to create for the Center and its audiences are the unprecedented Mariinsky Festival in 2006, which brought the opera, ballet and orchestra of the legendary St. Petersburg institution for a series of performances celebrating the Center's 20th anniversary; Russia's Golden Mask Award-winning production of Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion; Reflections, an artistic partnership with the Bolshoi Ballet (currently nominated for a Golden Mask); Solo for Two, which featured three premieres created for and performed by Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev; and world premieres of American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake (Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1988), The Firebird (Alexei Ratmansky, 2012) and The Sleeping Beauty (Alexei Ratmansky, 2015).

Segerstrom Center will continue to celebrate the role the Founders played in the creation of the Center through prominent recognition in the lobbies of both Segerstrom Hall and Judy Morr Theater.