Jenny Ballard – People to Watch 2015

Jenny Ballard has a lot on her mind. She’s juggling the remainder of Theatre Baton Rouge’s season while plotting its future. She’ll bring the volunteer theater organization’s mission to hopeful sponsors and patrons. She’ll make the calls, put out the messages on social media and continue the endless hustle. Her drive has been renewed by the community’s reinvigorated interest in local theater.

“There’s an energy in Theatre Baton Rouge that I don’t remember feeling,” she says.

Last year, audiences enjoyed extended, sold-out runs of Mary Poppins, as well as the Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater adaptation of Spring Awakening. The latter hit is a thought-provoking rock musical that tackles teenage sexuality in 19th-century Germany.

“[Spring Awakening’s success] gives me hope that I will be able to do more of the plays I want to do,” she says. “There is a history of underestimation of audiences that has happened in general, but there is a need for more challenging theater.”

Wall Street drama Other People’s Money and Stephen Sondheim’s Company are already on the 2015 schedule. But Ballard isn’t content to rest. With a goal of becoming the next premier regional theater in the area, she won’t have much time to.

“We’re already one of the most successful community theaters in the nation,” she says. “I want to end the stigma of community theater. … I’m excited about the potential of this place.” theatrebr.org

People she admires most
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. “They were progressive women who lived in a man’s world. They managed to make a miracle happen.”