×

Spotlight on Jenny Ballard – Theatre Baton Rouge’s new executive director discusses her new job

Jenny Ballard put her name in the running for Theatre Baton Rouge’s executive director position fairly late in the game. Though she had known the local arts organization for some time through her husband, technical director Kenneth Mayfield, and was a big supporter of Theatre Baton Rouge as an audience member, it wasn’t until this April when she felt at home, beginning work on directing the company’s run of Annie.

“I fell in love with everybody involved,” Ballard says. “It was a fun, supportive experience. I realized I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

While Theatre Baton Rouge’s production of Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things continues through Sunday, she knows the challenges ahead and the difficulty of following former Theatre Baton Rouge Executive Director Keith Dixon, who left to take the artistic director position for the Spokane Civic Theatre in Washington.

“[Dixon] grew the theatre so much,” Ballard says. “He’s irreplaceable because of the niche he created for himself and this organization. When I applied for the job, I felt that I was the best candidate to further the work he was doing while trying to access some doors that haven’t been accessed.”

Ballard says she’s not trying to change the theatre. Rather, she wants a smooth transition that will see more positive growth. One of her goals is to renovate the space.

“We are in the preliminary stages of launching a capital campaign to make improvements to the building,” she says. “We have to try to figure out how to make what is happening on the exterior as beautiful as what’s happening on the interior.”

Like Dixon, Ballard is also trying to sell potential sponsors on the idea of supporting theatre through buying program ads and needed supplies. Highlighting the theatre’s growth is key to her approach.

“When these sponsors by an ad in our programs, we are growing their businesses by 60 customers per performance,” she says. “That’s a significant reason to invest.”

With the first production under her belt as executive director, Ballard also has other ideas in mind for the company, mainly what types of shows she can bring to audiences.

The Shape of Things is part of the Turner-Fischer City Series, where off-Broadway and more controversial plays can be given the spotlight. Given what she calls a successful run of The Shape of Things, as well as past plays like the R-rated puppet show Avenue Q, Ballard is ready to test audiences.

“Audiences are more ready for these types of plays than we give them credit for,” she says. “It’s all in the way the content is presented. If it’s relevant, important and there for a reason, I think audiences will respond.”

Ballard would also like to bring a season of Broadway-style blockbusters to the stage. The example she has on her mind is The Miracle Worker, the play that focuses on the real-life relationship of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller.

“I feel like there are 4,000 plays I want to do,” she says. For more information on Theatre Baton Rouge, visit theatrebr.org.

2000: Acted and directed professionally in Tennessee and surrounding regions

2003: Began work as education and managing director of Actor’s Co-Op, a local theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee

2005: Named interim artistic director and education director for Tennessee Stage Company in Knoxville

2007: Started Knoxville Children’s Theatre and was founding artistic director

2010: Moved to Baton Rouge, attended LSU for graduate school

2013: Received master’s in theatre performance from LSU

June 2014: Directed Annie for Theatre Baton Rouge, which enjoyed such a successful run that a full week of performances was added to its initial slate of shows

July 2014: Named Theatre Baton Rouge Executive Director

Annie was perfect for me because I love working with children and adults at the same time. They’re informing each other, and the adults become different, better versions of themselves. [The adult actors] see the play through the children’s eyes, and the performance becomes really exciting. It creates an unexplained magic.”