Our governing board is elected each January and serves terms of one year.
2024 Board Officers
Ted Nowlin, President
Ted is a Graphic Designer at Horizon Hobby and lives in Monticello with his wife Kelly, and their twin boys, Preston and Payne. The whole family is involved in theatre one way or another. Ted began his acting career with MTA in 2011 in Dearly Departed. He has directed On Golden Pond, and plans on directing more plays in the future. He has been on the board for the past few years. He can be found at the theatre acting, directing, building sets or parking cars.
Katie Culpepper, Vice President
Katie currently works for Carle Clinic. She has been involved with MTA's summer youth musicals, volunteering her time with us for the last several years. Katie recently co-produced the 2021 Summer Youth Production of Chicago - High School Edition and the 2022 Summer Youth Production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This year, she is gearing up to direct the 2023 Summer Youth Production of Matilda.
Chelsea Mueller, Secretary
Chelsea has been a proud board member since 2022, and is the current Board’s secretary. She has been involved in community theater ever since moving to Monticello in 2015 with her husband Jeremy. She has previously starred in MTA’s production of Harvey, Dial M for Murder, The Glass Menagerie, and The Curious Savage, among others. Chelsea currently works as the Senior Clinical Director for a community mental health center in Decatur and has a passion for mental health advocacy and education. Chelsea and Jeremy have two young sons named Clark and Graham.
Payne Nowlin, Treasurer
Payne is a recent graduate of Illinois State University. He has enjoyed helping MTA for years, usually by parking cars and acting since he was in middle school. More recently as an actor and set builder for the Haunted House. Now as treasurer, he hopes to use his accounting degree to maintain the financial aspects of MTA.
Thurman Culpepper, Building Trustee
Thurman works in IT at Parkland and also at CU Woodshop Supply doing a little bit of everything from maintenance to IT to shop work. He has helped build sets for the summer musicals for the last three years and built the set for Into the Woods at Monticello High School. He has done some acting in college. His main hobbies include spending time in his personal woodshop and playing games with his family.
Carl Sebens, Building Trustee
Carl is a long-time member of MTA, beginning with his first show in November of 1978. In addition to working with MTA, he has worked with Decatur’s Theatre 7 and Richland Community College. Favorite directing efforts include The Nerd, The Glass Menagerie, Steel Magnolias, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe. Favorite onstage credits include ‘Norman’ in On Golden Pond, and ‘Matthew Harrison Brady’ in Inherit the Wind. He enjoyed assuming multiple personalities in the MTA production of Greater Tuna.
Colleen Kilian, Marketing Coordinator
Originally from Chicago, Colleen has made Central IL her home for over 30 years and now resides in Monticello with her husband Sean and sons Lucas and William. Colleen is known in the area for her many years of coaching/officiating volleyball and her day job as the Systems Administrator for the City of Champaign. Even though she is newer to the theater scene, Colleen is excited to bring her years of experience running a variety of different youth and professional programs to the theater...but leaves the acting to her son Lucas, who has appeared in MTA youth summer productions since 2018 and is currently a sophomore at Parkland College majoring in Theatre. She even got the rest of her family involved in the theatre with William acting in the 2021 Summer Youth Production of Chicago - High School Edition and Sean helping with the lights for several shows! Colleen also co-produced the 2021 Summer Youth Production of Chicago - High School Edition, the 2022 Summer Youth Production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and produced the 2023 Summer Youth Production of Matilda. Colleen also made her acting debut (with son Lucas) in MTA's Talk Radio in 2023.
Other Board Members
Kelly Barbour-Conerty, At-Large Board Member
Kelly is a business professor at Parkland College in Champaign. When not teaching, she is running, most recently in the 2023 Berlin Marathon. She is mom to Lexi and Stasia, and is loving being a college mom. Go, Drake Bulldogs! She has been involved in pretty much all aspects of theatre since 2007: acting, directing, stage managing, producing, sets, costumes, the works - in productions at Parkland College, MTA, and CUTC.
Pat Gleason, At-Large Board Member
Pat has lived in Monticello since 2008 wih his wife Mandy and three children: Quinlan, Aiden, and Cora. He is currently self-employed as an independent insurance agent affiliated with Country Financial in Mt Zion, Illinois. Pat has served on several statewide, regional, and local community boards including Rural Partners, Mahomet Aquifer Consortium, Housing Authority of Piatt County, Monticello Planning and zoning Commission, and Goose Creek Township Library (Now Goose Creek Library District) where he provided financial oversite, contributed to strategic planning, partnership developments strategies and other various board related activities. He has served as a rec league coach in several capacities, parked cars for MTA, and volunteered for countless organizations that his family has been involved with. Pat’s children have been involved in 4 MTA production cumulatively, summer camps and he even participated in an MTA improvisational workshop a few years ago that he enjoyed immensely while also realizing he has no future in an improv career. Pat is excited to offer his volunteer and management experience and insights with the MTA Board.
Janet Roy, At-Large Board Member
Janet has lived in Monticello for her whole life, minus the first 3 glorious years she lived in Cisco. She can’t act, she can’t direct but she loves watching theatre and helping out in the community. Known as Mom, Nana, friend and Insurance Agent at Loman-Ray in Monticello.
Christina Smith, At-Large Board Member
Christina is a wife and mother of three grown daughters (senior at SIUE, freshman at SIUE, and junior at Monticello High School). She works full time at Flora Gems in Champaign as the Director of Inventory. She also manage the details for her and her husband's mask business, Unsub Masks, and their non-profit charity haunted house, Nightmare at Fox Hill. In her spare time, she enjoys relaxing with a good Netflix series, helping family and friends, being crafty, and reading.
Steve Wadleigh, At-Large Board Member
Steve Wadleigh retired from teaching 4th grade and now lives in rural White Heath with his dog, 2 cats, and a snake. He has performed in several MTA productions and enjoys being a member of the MTA Board of directors.
Lana Ross, Ex-Officio Board Member
Lana is a long-time member of the Monticello Theatre Association. Lana remembers the day she found the Camp Creek Playhouse still smoldering from the fire which destroyed it in 1999. She is very proud of implementing the KIDS’ programs, beginning with the first workshops in 2011 which have led to a robust summer program for our kids! Lana also served MANY years as MTA's treasurer!
Gil Yohnka, Past President
Gil is a retired Champaign Police Lieutenant and has lived in Monticello with his family for more than 30 years. His wife Peg is also a MTA member and a frequent volunteer. Gil became involved in community theater in 2011 and has since appeared in many shows in the Champaign area, including The Music Man, Shrek, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Anything Goes, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, The Snow Queen and the Goblin, Miracle on 34th St, Les Miserables, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Legally Blonde, The Producers, Bleacher Bums and 1787. Gil has also appeared on the MTA stage in Double Wide Texas & DWT Christmas, Rumors, A Week in Mercy Falls, Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing, and The Foreigner, and directed Stealing Home, The Curious Savage, Death & Taxes, and is currently directing A Fly on the Wall.