Creative Team
DeeAnne Meece
Creator/Director
DeeAnne is from Dallas and is an accomplished singer and actress and has performed with many celebrities,such as Bob Hope, Dolly Parton, Larry Gatlin, B.J. Thomas, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Jimmy Dean, Tommy Tune, and Sandy Duncan to name a few. She has sung national commercial jingles for General Motors, Nabisco, State Farm Insurance, Dairy Queen, Southwest Office Systems, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and many more.
DeeAnne has played leading rolls in equity regional theatre productions and some of her favorites include: MUSIC MAN, OKLAHOMA, HELLO DOLLY, GUYS & DOLLS, THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and THE KING AND I.
However, DeeAnne considers her greatest accomplishments as well as greatest blessings to be her two amazing sons, David and Matthew, who have given her two sweet daughters-in-law and six precious grandchildren.
DeeAnne owns a successful Interior Design and remodeling business and continues to coach singing and do studio recording. She and her family own and produce shows at the very successful historic Savannah Theatre in Savannah, Georgia.
Sammy Davenport
Musical Director
We are excited to welcome Sammy Davenport back as our Musical Director for the 2024 Spectacular Follies.
Sammy is a native of the Dallas area and has been involved in the professional music scene since he was a teenager. He started playing bass in the Dallas Summer Musical orchestra at the age of 18. At that time in his career, he split his skills between pipe organ, piano, bass, and trumpet. Between the 4 instruments, he played classical, rock, big band swing, country and every other style of music one can imagine. These early years helped form his understanding of orchestration and love for various genres of music.
Sammy has produced music scores for Apple, IBM, Motorola, Kodak, Epcot Center, Disney, Sony, Westinghouse, Coors, Sun Microsystems, Berg Productions. He is currently producing for the TV show Zola Levitt Presents and CEC Entertainment (Chuck E Cheese).
The Follies is eager to grow artistically under Sammy’s expertise.
Amy Cave
Choreographer
Ms. Cave began dancing at the age of 2 ½ years. She studied extensively under Nita Braun, former Rockette Mary Six Rupert, the incomparable Jackie Troupe Miler, Mistie Miller Porter, Nancy Goodwin, and Persis Forster. Ms. Cave holds a degree in Arts and Performance from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is a long-time member of Texas Association Teacher’s of Dancing, Inc. where she previously served as a board member and is a Tap Examiner. In the past 31 years of teaching Amy has also choreographed, staged, and performed in numerous industrials and both Equity and Non-Equity theatrical productions.
Ms. Cave is in demand as a performer. Recent credits include Cats, White Christmas and Gypsy (Firehouse), Chapter Two, To Carol, with Love (RTP), Missed Connections (Proper Hijinx), and The Whale (L.I.P. Service). Ms. Cave has also choreographed extensively for The Firehouse Theatre, Runway Theatre, L.I.P. Service, Resolute Theatre Project and local middle and high school productions.
A founding member of the tap trio SAM she has danced in local festivals and concerts including Everything on Tap. She owns Amy’s Studio of Performing Arts in North Dallas and is a founder and artistic director of the Resolute Theatre Project.
Jeri Edwards
Costume Design
Scott Guenther
Technical Manager/Sound Design
Scott has been with Spectacular Follies for the last nine years. His work has been seen with other local theatre companies like Uptown Players – Theatre Three – Stage West – Contemporary Theatre – Jubilee – GSM and WTT to name a few. Scott is the resident Lighting and Media Designer for The Turtle Creek Chorale. He started his career with The Dallas Opera and The Santa Fe Opera and soon moved on to design for dozens of Theatre, Dance and Choral companies while managing the technical needs of the Addison Theatre Centre for over 22 years. Scott is a graduate of The University of Texas, Arlington.
Jason Foster
Lighting Design
Jason is thrilled to be working for the first time with the Follies. Jason’s other design credits include over 125 shows at a dozen different theatres since 2001 that include Shows at Lyric Stage, Uptown Players, Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, Watertower Theatre, Garland Summer Musicals, Mainstage, Undermain Theatre, Wingspan, Wishing Star Productions, CATF Carrollton and many more.
Jason received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Lighting from University of Texas at Arlington and his Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Lighting Design from University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).
*Lighting design awards include: 2006,2011, 2012, 2014 Column Awards for Best Lighting Designs. 2004, 2006 and 2007 Leon Rabin award for Best Lighting Design for a Musical, 2006 and 2007 Leon Rabin award for Best Lighting Design for a Plays
Rodney Dobbs
Set Design
RODNEY DOBBS (Set Designer) has been actively involved in the Dallas Theatre scene since 1978. He co-founded the Pocket Sandwich Theatre with Joe Dickinson in 1980 and retired from there as Artistic Director and Resident Set Designer in 2021. He has done hundreds of set designs for theatres all over the metroplex and been nominated for several scenic design awards and even won a couple of them! From 1995 until 2009, he taught Technical Theatre at Greenhill School and has since also taught as an adjunct at 2 local colleges. Recent and coming set designs include: “Singing in the Rain” for Garland Summer Musicals; “Six Degrees of Separation” at Theatre Frisco; and “How the Other Half Loves” for Garage Door Theater—which he also directed. Rodney is pleased to have another opportunity to work on The Spectacular Follies.
Neil Mowles
Musical Assistant
Neil has performed professionally at area theaters including Theatre 3, Casa Manana, Bass Hall, Stage West and Circle Theater as well as others across the country. Favorite shows include “Forever Plaid” (over 1200 performances!) “A Year with Frog and Toad” and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” Neil was a member of Actor’s Equity Association for 25 years. He has been the stage and/or musical director for over 40 productions and has had a private voice studio for the past 30 years. Neil is the Director of Worship and Music Ministries at FUMC Celina. Many thanks to DeeAnne and the Follies family for their warm welcome.
Jill L. Brooks
Musical Assistant to Ms. Meece
Jill has decades of performance and theatre experience spanning from performer to director. Nearly all of it has come into play as Musical Assistant to Ms. Meece. Her role has grown from vocal coach to chorus captain to all around “Jill of all trades” It is a pleasure to combine her administrative, computer and creative skills to assist the Design Team and help the Follies be the best it can be.
Emily Mordecai
Stage Manager
Emily Mordecai is thrilled to be joining the Spectacular Follies family this spring! Last year, she returned to Dallas after graduating with her B.F.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Stage Management from the University of Houston. Mordecai was most recently the PSM on Sweeney Todd at Lyric Stage, and Production Assistant at the Dallas Theater Center for A Christmas Carol and The Rocky Horror Show. She was also the Assistant Company Manager for the world premiere of His Story: The Musical in The Colony. Other Stage Management credits include: Wolf Play (Rec Room Arts); The Secret of My Success (Theatre Under the Stars); The Odyssey (Dallas Theater Center – Public Works Dallas); Sonia Flew (TEATRX). Many thanks to the Follies for providing such a bright light to DFW!
Pat Madden Housel
Executive Assistant
Working with DeeAnne Meece and the creative design teams is a dream job for this ol’ professional Project Manager! Hard to believe it all started in 2008 when Mark Carroll, Follies co-founder and then Executive Artistic Director, needed help finding lyrics on the Inter net. With each show, her role as Assistant to the Artistic Director has increased in both size and dimension. Pat has enjoyed every minute of both learning from and working with the design team and every member of the cast.