Veteran Civic Auditorium General Manager Rick Barr Retires

After a distinguished 45-year career working in the theatre industry, including the past 23 years as general manager of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Rick Barr retired on July 1.

“Rick has been the consummate professional and dedicated leader of Pasadena Civic Auditorium for more than two decades,” said Michael Ross, chief executive officer of the Pasadena Center Operating Company, which oversees the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. “He has brought prestige and recognition to the theatre throughout his illustrious career, and he is highly respected in the industry, within our organization and throughout the community. Rick will be greatly missed, and we wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement.”

Barr was involved with 87 television shows during his time at the Civic Auditorium, including the Prime Time Emmy Awards; the NAACP, ALMA, People’s Choice, Soul Train awards programs; 14 seasons of American Idol; and the American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Show, among many others.

In addition, he was responsible for presenting 60 engagements of touring Broadway musicals, 19 seasons of the Pasadena Symphony, 18 seasons of the Distinguished Speaker Series of Southern California, and countless concerts, graduations and performing arts events.

Barr joined the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 1991 after 6 years as the director of production for the Music Center in Los Angeles. There he worked six Academy Awards productions, the inaugural seasons of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, six seasons of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the record-breaking engagement of The Phantom of the Opera at the Ahmanson Theatre. 

Barr began his theatre career as a stage manager in New York City before taking on duties of stage manager, production manager, associate producer and director at venues in Buffalo; Philadelphia; Princeton; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Long Beach. He produced corporate events at hotels, resorts and convention centers throughout the United States, and he also was the casting director for “The Border,” which starred Jack Nicholson and was directed by Tony Richardson.

A longtime resident of Pasadena who was very active in the community, Barr served as president of the Pasadena Arts Council, the Children’s Center for the Arts and the All Saints Children’s Center. He was also vice president of the Pasadena Symphony Association and chair of the Pasadena Host Committee and co-chair of the Performing Arts Committee for the International Association of Venue Managers, from which he earned the designation of Certified Facility Executive.

—Pasadena Civic Auditorium