Linda Baker started the Keizer Homegrown Theatre in 2012 as a retirement hobby. Her team was small then–a dedicated cast of volunteers and theater connoisseurs who would perform Shakespeare plays at Keizer Rapids Park.
She officially stepped down as president last month, leaving the theater to new leaders.
“At some point, there’s nothing new that I’m bringing to the party,” she said, reflecting on her decision.
The theater’s new four-show season continues under the leadership of Jennifer Johnson.
Baker has been involved with drama since childhood.
Growing up in Long Beach, California, she was the kid performing “plays in her back yard during the summer.” Her love for theater continued through high school, and she pursued theater studies at California State University.
After spending almost 20 years teaching English and theater at different schools, Baker accepted an opening at McNary High School in 1997. Her first Celtic production was the musical “Brigadoon.”
Baker stayed at McNary for 16 years before her retirement. After teaching drama and language arts for decades, she was ready for a break.
“Sixteen years is at least 32 years for a drama teacher,” she said with a chuckle.
As a retirement project, Baker started the Keizer Homegrown Theatre with her former student, Evan Christopher.
Back then, survival was their goal. After years of searching for performance space, Baker was ready to pull the plug until they could find a permanent venue.
Then, in 2016, she got a call from Mayor Cathy Clark, who offered a room in the Keizer Cultural Center.
The theater has grown tremendously ever since. Under the direction of an eight-person board, Keizer Homegrown Theatre performs four shows every season. The nonprofit survives on tickets, donations, and public grant money.
Baker’s measure of success is producing more creative and quality shows than in previous seasons.
One of her favorite productions was “The Lifespan of a Fact,” which ran last year. The cast included Baker’s former students, and was “exactly the kind of theater that we want to always have here,” she said.
Their mission has always been about “starting conversations,” she said, and the belief that theater changes lives.
“Maybe [the mission] is the same as what I used to tell my McNary students before going on stage – make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em fall in love,” she said.
Baker hopes that her retirement is a step in the theater’s self-sustainability. In other words, she doesn’t want to be the one running the show.
She said Johnson, the new president, excels at task delegation. Baker describes that as one of her weaknesses.
“Linda just does so much, all on her own,” Johnson said. “We just want to spread out the work.”
Johnson, who has been with the theater for six years, plans some adjustments in operations. This means better organization – like developing a policies and procedures handbook – and emphasizing private donations.
“My goal is always to make me superfluous,” she said, which, in a sense, is Baker’s same goal in stepping off the stage and letting others take the spotlight.
The Keizer Homegrown Theatre’s next production, “Drinking Habits,” directed by Jeff Minden, starts this Friday, April 11. It will run until April 27, and tickets can be purchased from the theater’s website: www.keizerhomegrowntheatre.org.
News tip? Contact reporter Riley Ellis at [email protected].
