Theatre Staff

Jonathan Meier

Director of Theatre
Director - Fall Play, Winter Play, Spring Musical
Co-Director - Chicago Shakespeare Slam

Mr. Meier has been at MHS since the fall of 2004. He teaches Introduction to Theatre, Beginning Acting, Theatre Studio (Advanced Acting), as well as Technical Theatre. He is also certified to teach English and Speech. He is the Artistic Director of Mundelein Summer Theatre, a company formed in 2006 to produced shows for MHS alumnus. He has appeared several times on the MHS stage – Proof, Love Letters, Biloxi Blues, Prelude to a Kiss, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and David & Lisa. He directed the World High School Premiere of TRUST, by David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin, which was selected to perform at the Illinois High School Theatre Festival.

He grew up in the St. Louis area and attended Southeast Missouri State University. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Theatre Education, he moved to Chicago to pursue a career as a professional actor. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University (now known as The Theatre School). He worked for several years as an actor in Chicago, doing stage work, commercials and industrial films. In addition to acting, he has had the good fortune to work as a “techie”, having served as a scene carpenter, lighting technician, sound technician, technical director and stage manager.  A temporary office job led him to a career in the financial services industry. He spent 18 years in the banking field. He recently completed a Masters in Directing at the Chicago Conservatory of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
 
Mr. Meier lives in Palatine with his wife, Jill and has three crazy kids (Gracie, Sophie and Holden). Other passions include golf and St. Louis Cardinal baseball.  Mr. Meier is a member of the Illinois Theatre Association (formerly on the Board of Directors), Northern Illinois Theatre Educators and the Educational Theatre Association.

Sara Gunther

Assistant Director - Group Interpretation
Advisor - Student Directed One Act Plays
Auditorium Manager

Ms. Gunther has been designing the lights and sets for the high school productions since the fall of 2004.  She’s happy to be given the opportunity to design for her alma mater and enjoys working with each new group of students. 
 
She is a member of the Kirk Players Community Theatre Group, who also performs at the high school. Within this group she has taken on such roles as director, stage manager, lighting designer, technical director and has acted in numerous productions.  During her time with the Kirk Players she has been awarded the Carter Golden Hammer Award and Hazen Most Valuable Player awards.
 
Ms. Gunther attended the University of New Hampshire and earned a B.A. in Theatre and a B.S. in Marine & Freshwater Biology.  While at the university she was the president of the student run theatre group, Mask & Dagger and a Teacher’s Assistant for the Tech Theatre classes.  She returned to school and earned a M.A. in Visual & Media Arts from Emerson College with a concentration in Fictional Narrative.
 
She has worked in theatres all over the country including theatres in Boston, Los Angeles, New Hampshire, and Chicago.  Some of her most recently productions outside of Mundelein High School include stage managing Dracula: a Tragedy and The Happiest Millionaire, acting in David & Lisa and The Velveteen Rabbit, designing lights for The Little Prince and The Glass Slipper, and run crew for Yeast Nation.

David Mork

Set Designer
Scene Painting Specialist

Mr. Mork has been at MHS since the fall of 2004. In addition to designing the sets and supervising the paint crew, he also works as the Department Chair for Fine and Applied Arts here at MHS and oversees the student internship program. Mr. Mork grew up in Rockford and attended Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois and also Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He received his Bachelors of Science in Art Education from NIU and his Masters of Educational Leadership from Roosevelt University. Before going back to school for art education, Mr. Mork worked for 15 years as a carpenter/contractor. He had a small business in light construction and remodeling. It was during this time that he decided that he wanted to go back to school to finish his degree and become an art teacher. He has enjoyed working with Mundelein Theatre since beginning his teaching career in 2004. And he looks forward to many more shows and challenges. He currently lives in Island Lake with his wife Jodi and their two sons, Sean and Jesse, who were both adopted from Haiti. They also have one grown son, John, who is married to Kirsten. John and Kirsten are both teachers in the northwest suburbs.

Mark Landuyt

Director - Group Interpretation
Co-Director - Chicago Shakespeare Slam
Advisor - Student Directed One Act Plays

Mr. Landuyt has been an English teacher at Mundelein High School since 2012.  Additionally, he began in 2014 directing Group Interpretation, an IHSA performing arts event, for Mundelein Theatre.  In 2016, Mark began co-directing the Battle of the Bard, Shakespeare “poetry-slam-style” event coordinated by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Chicago Youth Shakespeare.
 
In high school, Mark was very involved in not only Group Interp but Speech team and theatre as well.  He attended college at Saint Xavier University in Chicago and received a B.A in Secondary Education-English. More recently, Mark has earned a Masters in Reading Education through Olivet Nazarene University. As an undergraduate, he regularly coached for Alan B. Shepard speech teams and assisted with their performing arts productions. While student teaching and working as a tutor at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, he was an assistant coach for the Speech team.  During his collegiate years, Mark also wrote and acted with a sketch comedy troupe, Girls Field Hockey, performing with other sketch comedy groups throughout the Chicago South Suburbs.   
 
Although still relatively novice as a director, Mark is excited to continue working with the ever-growing Mundelein Theatre community and its fantastic group of students.  Mark lives in Vernon Hills with his wife Jenny and wonderful daughter, Madelyn.
 

Jeff Harding

Director - New Faces Production
Advisor - Student Directed One Act Plays
Technical Director - Selected shows
Associate Director - Winter Play

Mr. Harding has had the privilege of spending his entire professional life teaching high school mathematics.  He started in 1988 and joined the MHS staff in the fall of 1999.  Mr. Harding lives in Wauconda with his wife Monica and is the proud father of four daughters. 
 
He grew up in Roscoe, Illinois and then attended Illinois State University.  He has taught at Boylan Catholic High School, Hononegah High School, and Round Lake High School before coming aboard at MHS.  During his time teaching, he has obtained his Masters Degree in Education from National Louis University.  He is an avid reader who reads in excess of one hundred books each year. 
 
Mr. Harding is a member of two local community theatre groups, the Kirk Players here in Mundelein and PM&L Theatre in Antioch.  He has had the thrill of performing on the stage a number of times with his most notable roles being Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men, Bill Sykes in Oliver, and Henry Saunders in Lend Me a Tenor.
 
 
While being an avid follower of the theatre at MHS his entire career, he became actively involved in the winter of 2015 when he was the Associate Director of The Odd Couple.  He has also directed the first ever New Faces Production, The Election, and worked with the understudy cast of Picnic. 

Dominick Basso

Set Designer
Master Carpenter/Deck Supervisor
Advisor - Student Directed One Act Plays
Technical Director - Selected shows

Mr. Basso has been on staff at MHS since 2013. He began as a substitute teacher and is currently an instructional aid in the special education department. He received a B.S. In Computer Information Systems from DeVry University.  Mr. Basso has spent his entire adult life involved in theater in one form or another.
 
He is a former Goodman School of Drama theater student, and has many credits both professionally and non-professionally. He has done several professional productions in the Chicagoland area, including Tony ‘n’ Tina’s wedding in Chicago, and the Pheasant Run dinner theater in St. Charles, Illinois. He also spent time in Las Vegas, Nevada working as an Actor/Magician at Caesar’s Palace. Most recently Mr. Basso was fortunate enough to film a nationally aired Super Bowl commercial with Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson. He has also been a member of the Kirk Players here in Mundelein since 2006.
 
Mr. Basso is grateful for being given the opportunity to work with such talented professionals at MHS, and looks forward to the many future productions to come!
 

Michael Swager

Project Specialist
Theatre Fest Chaperone

Mr. Swager is a proud MHS alumnus (Class of 2008) and was heavily involved in Mundelein Theatre during his time in high school.  He graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BFA in theatre design and technology. 

He is currently working full time at the Marriott Lincolnshire theatre as the production electrician and light board operator. Previous employment includes: Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Six Flags Great America, Upstaging inc., Christie Lites, Glimmerglass Festival and with various companies around Chicago. 

Michael has been going back to Mundelein Theatre for a few years to help out whenever possible. He has chaperoned the last 3 trips to the Illinois High School Theatre Festival and he loves working with all the students!

Cory Thompson

Vocal Director

Mrs. Thompson is a 2002 and 2005 graduate of Northwestern University with an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance and a Masters in Music Education.  Since the age of 10, Mrs. Thompson has been singing, dancing, and performing on stage in over 40 productions, first in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later with Northwestern’s premiere a capella group, Melodious Thunk.  She’s sung the National Anthem at Wrigley Field for 8 years, as well as at several American Cancer Society National Medal of Honor Ceremonies across the country.  At these events, she has had the opportunity to sing for former President George H.W. Bush, Duke basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski, and other leading political and scientific figures.  

Mrs. Thompson’s has been at Mundelein High School since fall of 2006, where she is the director of Master Singers, Bel Canto, Sound, and SoundFX, teaches AP Music Theory, and does vocal direction for the  Spring Musical.  In addition to her singing and teaching engagements, Mrs. Thompson and her husband have run over ten marathons for the American Cancer Society.  Mrs. Thompson lives in the northern suburbs with her husband and three children: Emma, Ava, and Jack.
 

Jerald Shelato

Pit Orchestra Director

Mr. Shelato is one of the Directors of Bands at Mundelein High School, where he directs the Honors Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Jazz Orchestra and teaches Beginning and Intermediate Guitar classes. He also co-directs the Marching Mustangs and the MHS Pep Band

Before coming to Mundelein High School, Mr. Shelato taught in the Champaign and Urbana school districts in Illinois. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has performed as a conductor, tuba player, or guitarist with numerous ensembles and artists, including Wayne Shorter, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, the Illinois Jazz Orchestra, the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company, the Danville Symphony Orchestra, and the avant-jazz group Ear Doctor. He is a proud resident of Mundelein, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Stevee Bellas

Vocal Director

Ms. Bellas is a 2015 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Choral Music Education. Before coming to Mundelein, Miss Bellas spent many years performing in choir, dance, and theatre in high school. During college, Miss Bellas was a member of the University of Illinois Women’s Glee Club and Chorale, which both performed throughout the year on campus, and around the country on tour.

Ms. Bellas started at Mundelein in 2015, and enjoys teaching Treble Choir, Concert Choir, Lights, and Beginning Guitar. Additionally, Miss Bellas enjoys co-vocal directing the musical with Mrs. Thompson. Outside of MHS, she is highly involved in her local sorority alumni chapter, and is an Assistant Director of the Palatine Children’s Chorus.
 

Annie Snow

Choreographer

Ms. Snow is a Chicago based dancer, choreographer and dance educator. She holds a BA in dance and psychology from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and a MA in dance/movement therapy and counseling from Columbia College Chicago. Upon graduating college, Annie danced professionally for 2 years with Dance/Detour Chicago, a physically integrative dance company. 

She has been working as a freelance choreographer in the Chicagoland area for the past 11 years and is thrilled and honored to choreograph for Mundelein Theatre.  Annie has had the pleasure of working on and performing in over 40 musicals in the last 11 years with highlights including Oliver! (Citadel Theatre), Cabaret (Big Noise Wilmette) and Cats (Highland Park Players). When not performing or choreographing, Annie devotes much of her time to the development of young artists in both theatre and dance education. Other hobbies include cycling, skiing and discovering new things!!!