UPDATE, JAN. 13, 2011, 12:13 P.M.: The Orange County Performing Arts Center has indeed been renamed as the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, as announced during a celebration yesterday evening. According to the OC Metro, the event was attended by approximately 1,500 guests, which included former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
ORIGINAL ITEM, JAN. 7, 2011, 1:12 P.M.: When the Orange County Performing Arts Center sent out a massive e-mail to members of the press in the county about a “Very Special Center Announcement and Celebration,” I'll admit, my imagination went wild.
After all, we have a lot to thank OCPAC for: They've played host to an innumerable amount of concerts, Broadway shows and, in general, events this county would probably never see if it weren't for the center's continued efforts to bring them here.
My first thought? “Paul McCartney is coming to town!”
And then I received a tip from a source close to someone involved with the big announcement: Anticlimactic isn't even appropriate enough of a word.
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Here it is: The Orange County Performing Arts Center is changing its name to Segerstrom Center of for the Arts.
This is a terrible announcement in a number of ways:
- The Orange County Performing Arts Center just seems way more fitting.
- We lose the OCPAC acronym and the recognition that comes with it.
- A high school and a street aren't enough?
- No Paul McCartney.
Though, as our tipster points out, when your boss renames an entire performing arts center after himself, you're kind of obligated to get excited.
The Segerstrom family, as you may know, is another one of those mega-rich Orange County families that owns just about everything you can stand on in this county, including South Coast Plaza.
One more thought: Is Segerstrom Hall still going to be called Segerstrom Hall?
