SLT Audiences Will Enjoy Board Past President Corey Kilburn’s Contributions for Years to Come

A new motivational mantra just dropped. When you are ready to tackle your to-do list, conquer a new goal, and better your community, remind yourself, “Corey Kilburn has the same 24-hours in a day that I do!”

Seeing Kilburn pop up around town, it’s difficult to believe SLT’s Past President can be everywhere that he is – seemingly all at the same time. His high-flying achievements have not gone unrecognized. Kilburn received the Big Frannie in 2025 – SLT’s highest honor recognizing exceptional volunteers – and was named the Nonprofit Board Member of the Year by the Springfield Business Journal. On top of his tireless dedication to supporting art programs in the community, Kilburn is a husband, father, and runs his own boutique law firm, Roundtable Legal.

There is a very personal reason that Kilburn is always showing up and reaching out to support area nonprofits and arts organizations. He once found much needed stability and joy in arts programs himself.

“I grew up in a low-income household. There were a lot of times where I didn’t even have a stable place to live. We lived out of my parents’ car growing up,” Kilburn revealed. “There wasn’t really anything that was constant in my life. As I got older, theatre became a big part of that. It was kind of that home structure for me. It gave me a purpose; it gave me a place to belong.”

Kilburn first found his way onto the stage as a high school student in Willard. Their award-winning program excited and inspired him to reach for something greater.

Looking toward the next step as graduation drew near, Kilburn boarded a Greyhound bus to Chicago for the first time and auditioned for the prestigious arts conservatory Juilliard. He returned triumphant with an offer letter, but finances prevented him from accepting the spot. Instead, drama teacher Kendra Chappell pointed him toward the theatre program at Missouri State University – then SMSU.

“Kendra connected me with James Woodland in the theatre department at SMS. He gave this kid a chance and I was able to get a scholarship for theatre stuff here so I could stay home and still pursue that dream,” Kilburn remembered appreciatively. “I did theatre here locally and that’s when I got tied into SLT to do a couple of their productions.”

Studying in Springfield gave Kilburn the opportunity to plug into SLT for the first time. He appeared in the 2002 cast of ANNIE – a fan favorite that is back on the SLT stage this September. During his studies, Kilburn began performing Shakespeare. Alongside friend Shawn Young, Kilburn learned to choreograph fight sequences. He has implemented those skills in elevating the physical comedy and stunt combat in SLT productions. Kilburn’s role in THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG relied heavily on physicality as the character is cast as a ‘dead body’ that has trouble staying still. This past season, he consulted for NOISES OFF.

Although he has appeared in many productions since his SLT mainstage debut in ANNIE, Kilburn recently took on one of the most meaningful parts of his career.

“I was just in THE GIVER with my kid,” Kilburn smiled. “It was just an incredible, surreal experience to share that kind of memory and moment with your child.”

In fact, both of his children have chosen to pursue the arts. His oldest participated in the Springfield Public School Choice program and spent 5^th grade with the Academy of Fine and Performing Arts operated in SLT’s education building.

“They have a regular school curriculum, but it is really based out of arts initiatives. They learn about art and architecture and sculpture and photography, and they do music and theatre performance. Staff from the Landers and education department help steer that theatre program,” Kilburn explained. “My youngest was recently in FROZEN, JR. as Young Kristoff [at The Judy]. He might be going that same route. He wants to do the things dad does and the things big brother does. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a family affair.”

When it came time to commit to the difficult cycle of constant auditions and the uncertainty of booking gigs, Kilburn knew that he wanted to offer his family more stability. Although he had opportunities to pursue acting full-time, he ultimately became the first in his family to graduate high school, college, and after some career experience, he even went on to graduate from law school.

“I took a long hiatus because I made a fork in the road decision of continue on with studying theatre and try to do that as a professional career, or I had an opportunity to work in business and have a job and a steady paycheck,” Kilburn recalled. “For a kid who comes from nothing, that paycheck was pretty appealing. I went the business route.”

Kilburn entered the business industry in an operations and management role. He found his way to a theatre company in contract negotiating and suddenly saw his future come into view.

“[Contract negotiating] really sparked my interest in getting into law. That and the fact that I missed theatre a lot and I thought, ‘Hey, I could be a litigator and basically do theatre in the court room,” Kilburn laughed. “That’s what took me into law school and that route. It’s a second career for me, technically.”

Roundtable Legal is a boutique law agency that focuses on business law, contracts, intellectual property, and allows Kilburn to work with people in the arts and entertainment industry. Singer/songwriters, actors, authors, visual artists and more all rely on Kilburn’s expertise to help protect their work and advise their career from a business perspective. “I’m helping artists, creatives, entrepreneurs build their dreams and protect them,” Kilburn said.

Rather than bask in his success, after many years of schooling and starting a family, Kilburn’s next ambition was to give back to the place that shaped him. Beyond performance, SLT offers hundreds of opportunities large and small to contribute, but Kilburn dove into the deep end. He joined the board and quickly became its president.

“Theatre gave me a home as a kid, and I always want to give that accessibility in case there needs to be that kind of place for kids like me to go. A place for them to feel like they belong. A home for them where they feel seen and they feel safe,” Kilburn professed.

As board President, Kilburn spearheaded some of the most sweeping projects and one of the biggest seasons in SLT history. He was at the helm during the 90^th Emerald Anniversary Season. The board oversaw improvements to infrastructure, expanding programming, strengthening the endowment, and more under Kilburn’s leadership.

“We’ve done so many things as a priority to protect and preserve the Landers Theatre over these past several years,” Kilburn detailed. “We did a full refresh on the entire interior. We restored all historic paint, we replaced the carpets, the curtains, and we had an artisan come in and do repair of the plaster work. We have to take special care because it’s a historic building. It has to be an artisan to take care and honor the tradition and historic aspect of that beautiful theatre.”

Other improvements to the historic Landers building included three new roofs, new windows, a brand-new HVAC system, and accessibility upgrades. The board also invested in new real estate to allow for additional programs that may provide income streams for the theatre.

“Beyond the buildings, we’re expanding our footprint. We’ve purchased a new property that’s a tech campus where we’ll be able to house all our technical things, including props storage and costuming aspects, and maybe even start some training for the next generation of backstage professionals that are so vital to the theatre,” Kilburn explained.

“SLT is so near and dear to me. It’s so important,” Kilburn noted. “Any time I get an opportunity to talk about it, I want to say the right things to tell our story. The story is our legacy and that’s what changes people’s lives. It’s the impact that it has, it’s that ripple effect.’”

Beyond just performance skills, Kilburn appreciates that he has been exposed to all aspects of theatre production. He says that as he began to find his own way, the experiences helped him off stage as well as on.

“Theatre has been that constant thread throughout my life,” Kilburn said. “It has taught me so many transferable skills, so many things about resiliency in life, how to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and make things happen when you have nothing to work with. It’s been an incredible inspiration in my life, the theatre program itself.”

Season subscriptions are now on sale for Springfield Little Theatre’s 92^nd Season.