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 Meribeth
Reeves (Managing Director) is a native of Carefree, Arizona who began
her theatrical career at
Coronado High School under the direction of Jim Newcomer. She attended
Oberlin College, where she focused her
studies on theater criticism and direction under the tutelage of
Roger
Copeland; and on music education as a double-degree student in the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music (cello) and Oberlin College. Upon completion
of her BA in theater, she moved to Pittsburgh and began her career in arts
marketing with the
Pittsburgh Dance Council (PDC) moved up
the ranks to Marketing Director. She was responsible for all marketing and
promotion of PDC events and during her tenure saw ticket income nearly
double. At PDC she had the great fortune to work with wonderful dancers and
choreographers like Bill T. Jones,
Mark Morris,
Judith Jamison,
Joan Myers
Brown, Merce Cunningham,
Bella Lewtizky,
Twyla Tharp and others. She also
continued her work in theater through board membership and consulting with a
variety of theater and dance organizations in Pittsburgh. In her “down”
time, she directed and stage managed several productions including her play,
Mina and Vlad, and served as a stringer for several local
newspapers. Meribeth was an inaugural member of Pittsburgh’s prestigious
Leadership Development Initiative, a program designed to develop and future
leaders in the Pittsburgh community. After the birth of her children,
Meribeth began consulting with a variety of non-profit
organizations on web design, marketing, PR, fundraising and board development. In addition, she taught arts management
classes at Point Park University. Upon moving to Arizona, she continued her
consulting, and became actively involved in her children’s schools serving
on a variety of Cave Creek Unified School District committees. She served as
Black Mountain Elementary School PTO Co-President from 2004-2006 and again serving in that capacity in 2007-2008. An avid runner (finisher of 4
marathons) Meribeth founded the Luminaria Run,
now in its 6th
year with over 1200 runners and walkers participating each year. Meribeth began work with DFT in May of 2006 as
communications manager. She worked with DFT to increase both earned and
contributed income. She also initiated development of DFT’s Gecko Teatro and
oversaw the creation of the BMES Black Box Theater. Meribeth loves living
back in her hometown with her husband and two children and is thrilled to be
a part of DFT as it looks toward a bright future in this wonderful
community.
 Wes
Sullivan (Managing Producer, Lighting Designer, Technical Theater Instructor)
is a theatrical lighting designer who has returned to Phoenix after
graduating from the University Nevada Las Vegas with an MFA in Lighting
Design. In Las Vegas he worked for Lance Burton and most recently was the
Assistant Lighting Designer for "Stomp Out Loud," at Planet Hollywood
Casino. He also worked for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago during their
Telluride Colorado residency. Wes is glad to be back in Phoenix with his
beautiful wife, but unfortunately misses the casinos sometimes, though his
pockets don't.
 Miss Brenda B. Waffle
(Founding Director, Gecko Teatro) was owner and director of the award winning Columbus Youth Theater in
Columbus, Ohio for ten years. For the past fifteen years, Miss Waffle has
been a teacher for the Cave Creek Unified School District and has been
performing in theaters throughout the valley. Miss Waffle
was excited to be able to combine her two great passions: teaching children and theater. Miss Waffle had been on stage acting
since the third grade. She acted in or directed over forty shows during
this time period. Miss Waffle passed away July 2008.
 Lori
Vander Maten (Director, Gecko Teatro,
Theater I, Theater II, BMES)
Lori has worked in theatre since the 1980’s as an actress,
writer, director, producer, designer and stage manager. She has
worked in professional, community and educational theatre and has
taught and directed at the adult, college, high school, middle
school and elementary school levels. She is an award-winning
playwright and screenwriter who earned both her BA in Theatre and
her MFA in Playwriting from UCLA. Her musical adaptation of
Little Women was the winner of the YES Festival of New Plays
and premiered at the University of Northern Kentucky in 2001. Her
first full-length play, Storms Without Warning was the winner
of the Siena College International Playwriting Competition,
and she was a guest-artist-in-residence at Siena College for the
premiere production of that play. Her full-length play, Seasons,
was 4th runner up for the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award,
and her musical, Make Believe, was the two-time winner of the
Burdette Fitzgerald Award for Theatre for Young Audiences.
Her screenplay, Goin’ Home was a semi-finalist in the Walt
Disney Fellowship for Writers Competition, and her screenplay,
Razha, was a semi-finalist in the Fade-In Screenplay
Competition. Favorite acting roles include: Meg in
Brigadoon, Anne in All My Sons, Elaine in Arsenic and
Old Lace, Mrs. Beaver in Narnia, Amy in The Contender,
Mopsa in A Winter’s Tale, and most recently, Rose in God’s
Favorite. She has studied acting at UCLA, The University of
Arizona and the Arizona Theatre Company . Favorite directing
experiences include: The Merchant of Venice, West Side
Story, The Actor’s Nightmare, Working, A
Marriage Proposal, The Singer, Rich and Pearl,
Make Believe and portions of The Kentucky Cycle. She
also directed a short film, Secret Sisters, which was a
semi-finalist in the Miramax/LivePlanet Project Greenlight
directing competition. Since moving to Phoenix in 1999, Lori
has taught at Southwestern College, Scottsdale Community College,
Paradise Valley Community College and most recently at Scottsdale
Christian Academy. She is currently working on several writing
projects, teaching a class here and there, doing a bit of theatre,
and being a wife to Mike and a mom to daughters Kailee and Erin.
.
DFT 2008/2009 Directors
 E.E.
Moe (Director, Romantic Comedy, fall 2008) is a member of the
Society of Stage Directors/ Choreographers (SSDC). Her work has garnered awards from L.A. Drama Critics
Circle, Drama-Logue, LA Weekly, LA Reader, Robby Awards, NY/LA Theatre
Development Awards, Career Achievement and publication honors for more than
one-hundred productions. She is a founder actor/director of Arizona Civic
Theatre/Arizona Theatre Company, a member of numerous arts councils, Senior
Faculty Guest Artist in Directing/Acting at SCC, and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of the time honored MEGAW Theatre/Actors
Studio, Inc of CA/AZ.(c1973-current).
Petey Swartz (Director, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Spring
2009) has been hooked on theatre ever since she played a thundercloud in the
5th grade and over the years, she has donned many hats in numerous valley
productions. She directed and did sound and costume design for Moon
Over Buffalo at the North Valley Playhouse, which recently garnered six
ariZoni nominations, including Best Director and Best Overall Production.
Petey also directed and handled design elements for the ariZoni
award-winning Six Degrees of Separation and was the Assistant
Director, Stage Manager and sound designer for NVP’s Gin Game.
At Mesa Encore theatre, Petey was director and sound designer for this
summer’s very successful run of “Breaking Legs”, staged at the Mesa Arts
Center. Acting is another of Petey’s passions and some favorite performances
include Hale Center Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof, John Loves Mary,
and You Can’t Take It With You, On the Spots’ Skimpies, (ariZoni
nomination), iTheatre Collaborative’s The Bad Seed, and Stageworks’
Cinderella, the World’s Favorite Fairy Tale, (recent ariZoni
nomination).
Between roles on valley stages, Petey has played multiple zany characters in
the popular Mystery Mansion Dinner Theatre. She is an accomplished voiceover
talent as well. For the last five years, Petey was heard on radio and
television as the commercial voice of AJ’s Fine Foods. Whether she is
directing, acting, doing design duties, props, set dressing, or voiceovers,
Petey is totally committed to giving audiences the highest quality product
possible. It is her passion, experience and diligent attention to detail
that make all the difference between a good show and a great show.
 Dee Dee Wood (Director and Choreographer) - Dee Dee Wood, with her
extensive background in Hollywood and New York City for film, stage and
television, started as a dancer on Broadway (Guys and Dolls, Can-Can,
Lil'Abner, Destry). She soon turned to choreography. Her work can be seen in
the films Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Beaches with Bette Midler, and
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Her television extravaganzas include The Statue of
Liberty's 100th Birthday - Closing Ceremonies for which she won an Emmy
Award; the 1984 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies; and numerous Super
Bowl Half-Time shows. Dee Dee received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the
1998 American Choreography Awards in Los Angeles and was honored at the 2003
Dance Masters of America Awards in Las Vegas. She is on the Board of Judges
for the Emmy's. In 2005, Dee Dee was inducted into the
Arizona Music and Entertainment
Hall of Fame. Ms. Wood has directed six shows for Desert
Foothills Theater: All Night Strut, Sweet and Hot, Guys and Dolls,
Forever
Plaid, and A Grand Night for Singing and Hot 'N Cole.
Check out this
wonderful short video on YouTube about Dee Dee created by the Arizona
Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Gecko Teatro Instructors
 Darlene
King (Musical Theater, DAMS)
Ms. King hails from the state of Kentucky, spent much of her
professional life in Cincinnati, OH and now calls Arizona home. Her
30 years in music have focused on teaching and conducting. She holds
a Music Performance degree in voice with a minor in piano from
Northern Kentucky University as well as her teaching certification
with a Master's in Education for grades K-8. Professional
credits include leads in The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Music
Man, Hello, Dolly, The Old Maid and the Thief, Carmen and Le
Nozze di Figaro. Ms. King directs the band/choral program at
Desert Arroyo Middle School in the Cave Creek Unified School
District.
Lori Vander
Maten
Meribeth Reeves
Wesley Sullivan
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DFT Staff
Meribeth Reeves
Wesley Sullivan
Brenda Waffle
2008/2009 Directors
E. E. Moe
Petey Swartz
Dee Dee Wood
Directors
Past DFT
Directors/
Choreographers &
Music Directors
Artistic
Advisors
Designers
Dee Dee Wood
Toby Payne
Diane Welle
Barbara Allen
Gecko Teatro
Instructors
Brenda Waffle
Meribeth Reeves
Wesley Sullivan
Lori
Vander Maten
Darlene King
Actors
Past
DFT Actors/Designers and Crew
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Diane Welle (Costume Design) - Diane has received two AriZoni Awards, one
for her costume design for DFT's production of Lend Me a Tenor and one for
hair and makeup for DFT's production of Breaking Legs. Last season, she
designed the hair, wigs, and makeup for DFT's productions Into the the Woods
and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. She has also designed costumes for DFT's
productions of Moon Over Buffalo, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,
Breaking Legs, Fame: The Musical, Footloose, and Guys and Dolls for which
she received an AriZoni Award nomination for Best Costume Design of a
Musical and also for DFT’s AriZoni Award-nominated musical Sweet and Hot:
The Songs of Harold Arlen. She has 29 years of costume design experience
including figure skating competitions, ballroom dance competitions, and
couture evening gowns for private clientele. 
Toby Payne (Sound Design)