Dr Mary Rose McLaren was nominated as a representative of Royal South Street Society.

Council voted unanimously to appoint her at its ordinary meeting on Wednesday night.

Dr McLaren said Her Majesty’s Theatre was an icon of the Ballarat performing arts scene.

“A lot of people have performed there, or been there for dance concerts, or attended shows,” she said.

“I am interested in both local theatre and history, and early education – I am really interested in combining that.”

Ms McLaren said the theatre had made some good improvements to its seating recently, and still had high quality acoustics, particularly for for speaking.

“It has got a beautiful stage space,” she said.

“You are in the oldest continuously used theatre in Australia when you walk in the door, the walls speak to you about history and belonging.

“I am guessing it is always a challenge to have a theatre that everyone feels a degree of ownership of and I think being financially viable in the arts is a challenge.”

Her Majesty's Theatre is managed by a Section 86 council committee.

It requires council to approve the appointment of new board members.

The board has a full complement of eight members following the appointment.