Raising The Curtain on the

Morrison Center 25th Anniversary!

Friday, September 19 @ 3 p.m. we will dedicate the new plaza that will welcome our patrons to the Center and honor Dr. John Keiser with a lifetime Morrison Center medallion. Help us celebrate with cake and ice cream, music and prizes.

Schedule of events

• 2:45 -3:10 Drum cadence by BSU's Blue Thunder Marching Band.

• 3:10 Jan Zarr, the Morrison Center’s Executive Director, speaks about the plaza dedication, MC Volunteers and recognizes the resident companies. 

• 3:15 Sona Andrews speaks about BSU's relationship with the Morrison Center.
• 3:18 Emily Adams singin "This is my Song" by ENCORE! Arts Education.

• 3:20 Velma Morrison present Dr. Keiser with medallion award.

• 3:30 Cake, ice cream & punch are served. Prize giveaways!

• 3:45 Music by Gentle Rowser. (see image right)

• 4:15 Music ends – event is over.

Below is a list of some of the prizes that will available:

• Set of signed, Ward Hooper posters (Morrison Center)
• $25 gift cards - good toward any show (4 available) (Morrison Center)
• Use of the Founders Room for a private function before a show (Morrison Center)
• Scholarship to Morrison Center's ENCORE! Summer Camp (Morrison Center ENCORE!)
• 2 tickets to a performance of Fall Collage of Classics (Ballet Idaho)
• Gift Basket: $100 MC gift card, $80 Cottonwood Grille gift card, 3 hour "split service" Showcase Limousine, 1 night stay at the Anniversary Inn, Bottle of champagne, and box of truffles (Morrison Center Volunteers)
• Maestro's choice CD's (Boise Philharmonic)
• Pair of Boise Philharmonic season tickets (Boise Philharmonic)
• Pair of tickets to Lucia Di Lammermoor (Opera Idaho)
• And more!

The Plaza dedication is a free event, all are welcome!!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

a special presentation of Trey McIntyre Project Premier @ 8:00 p.m.

Official Trey McIntyre Project webpage

Click here to purchase tickets

Morrison Center

General Information

• The Morrison Center for the Performing Arts is owned by the State of Idaho. However to date $15 million private endowment covers the yearly operational costs. The $16.7 million dollar building was paid for by:
  • $7.5MM - Harry Morrison Family Foundation
  • $5.2MM - State of Idaho (Education Wing)
  • $4.0MM - Private Donations (includes major/foundation gifts)

• One of the early leaders to advocate a performing arts center was Boise's construction magnate, Harry W. Morrison. After Mr. Morrison's death in 1971, his widow Velma, continued the effort to build a center by offering money for the construction of such a center. After many problems associated with determining the location, in 1979, Boise State University and Morrison Center supporters formed a unique partnership to plan, finance, and manage the performing arts center. This "town and gown" concept grew to become the current Morrison Center.

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Morrison Center

Dates in History

• 1957 - Harry Morrison put his company to work reclaiming swamland along the Boise River, constructing the 155-acre Ann Morrison Memorial Park. Set aside in the middle of the park were 15 acres reserved for something Harry Morrison longed to see in Boise - a perforning arts center.
• 1959 - After Harry Morrison's donation of the park and its dedicated site, a $1.5 million bond levy was proposed to construct a civic auditorium. That levy failed.
• 1969 - Velma Morrison met Fred Norman.
• 1970 - Velma Morrison asked Fred Norman to be her confidante and to help complete Harry Morrison's dream of building a center for the performing arts.
• 1972 - Jim Nelson and Fred Norman opened a P.O. Box with $50 each and started the Gallery Playhouse. Katie Stein was the tresurer. This box was used until the opening of the Morrison Center.
• 1973 - Fred Norman directed Fiddler On The Roof at the Boise High School auditorium. This show planted the seed that a performing arts center was needed in Boise. Monies from this show were given to the art gallery as the plans for the center were not finalized.
• 1974 - Velma Morrison asked Ralph Comstock to lead the way for a bond election to acquire money for the project.
• 1974 - Fred Norman directed Jacque Brel Is Alive And Well at the Rodeway Inn and then the Crystal Ballroom in the Boise Hotel. Jim Nelson produced it and the proceeds were $27,000.
• 1974-1975 - Fred Norman directed Oklahoma, again at Boise High School, with proceeds of $40,000.
• 1975 - Lost the first bond election by 1%. The money from Oklahoma was given to an Iowa group brought in to help prepare for another election. They stayed one day, said to do nothing, and took the money.
• 1976 - On the first Tuesday in May, the 2nd bond election was lost soundly. Velma Morrison left town on May 10, and as Fred Norman took her to the airport, he convinced her the project was too right to be wrong.
• 1976 - Fundsy, chaired by Peter O'Neill had voted to give their money from the auction to the Morrison Center. After the defeat of the bond election, the Fundsy board voted to hold the money for one year. Approximately $300,000 was put aside.
• 1977 - $200,000 was donated to MSTI for a linear accelerator for the play Shenandoah, directed by Fred Norman. Velma Morrison told the cast backstage the first night of the performance, "Maybe we are bringing the Morrison Center out of the ashes."
• 1978 - John Keiser became president of Boise State University.
• 1978 - University Community Arts Association was formed with Ralph Comstock as president. The concept of the Morrison Center to be situated on the campus was discussed.
• 1980 - Fred Norman directed Side By Side By Sondheim. Each night abefore the show, Dr. John Keiser and Ralph Comstock informed the audience of the UCAA.
• 1980 - JR Simplot donates $1 Million dollars for the Morrison Center.
• 1980 - In April, Fred Norman gathered a group together to discuss his thoughts for a Vaudeville show. As a result, 255 people from the community helped put on Vaudeville Revisited which Velma felt was the real turning point to acquiring the Morrison Center.
• 1981 - Ground breaking for the Morrison Center, October 12. (see pic above) Just before the ground breaking, Ralph Comstock persuaded Fred Norman to step away from Chairman of the Theatre Department at Boise State University and become Executive Director of the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts. Fred Norman later hired Frank Heise, a Professor in the Theatre Department, to join him as Director of Operations.
• 1984 - April 7, Opened the Morrison Center with Fred Norman directing My Fair Lady. Velma Morrison made an announcement to pledge another $2.5 million dollar for the creation of a $5 million dollar Endowment with a community match.
• 1986 - The latest chapter in the Morrison Center story was written when the community completed a fund drive to create a $5.25 million endowment to support the operation of the main hall.