Mel Dacus: A Legacy in Theater and Music (1923–1999)

Melvin Ogle “Mel” Dacus, theatrical actor, singer, and producer, son of James Alexander Dacus and DeCora Lena (Ogle) Dacus, was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 15, 1923. J. A. Dacus was a professor and business manager at Texas Christian University (TCU) and later president of the university’s school of business. In his youth Mel Dacus, the youngest of six children, mowed the TCU campus. In 1940 Dacus, as president of his senior class, graduated from R. L. Paschal High School in Fort Worth and enrolled in TCU, from which he earned a bachelor's degree in voice in 1944. As both a high school and university student, he worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; he began as a carrier–salesman and rose to assistant district manager. At TCU Dacus was a student of Arthur Faguy-Cote, sang in the University Christian Church choir, was a member of the University Mixed Chorus, and served as president of the church’s Meliorist Club and the TCU band. He also performed in university theatrical productions and as part of the Interstate Theatre College Capers in 1942.

Military Service and Early Career

While still enrolled at TCU, Dacus volunteered for the U.S. Marine Reserves and received his degree in absentia while he was undergoing training. As a second lieutenant with the Regimental Weapons Company of the Fourth Marine Division, he participated in the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. After World War II Dacus pursued a graduate degree at TCU, worked as head of the voice department at North Texas Agricultural College (now the University of Texas at Arlington), was a soloist at the University Christian Church, and sang baritone with the newly-organized Fort Worth Opera Association during the 1946 season. In 1947 he earned his master’s degree and moved to New York to study at the American Theatre Wing. While there he sang in the choir at Manhattan’s Riverside Church, where he met Kathryne “Katy” Louise Peirson, another choir member who was a voice student at the Juilliard School. They were married on September 11, 1949, and performed together at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey. The couple had three children together—Brent, Kim, and Mindy. After a few years of performing professionally in opera, onstage, on television, and on radio, Dacus resumed his military service. During the Korean War he served as a captain at the Marine Corps Basic School near Quantico, Virginia, where he and his wife organized a theater group, the Quantico Players. In 1953 Mel and Katy Dacus returned to Fort Worth, where they hosted their own music and talk show on WBAP-TV.

Casa Mañana

In 1954 Dacus became the first full-time manager of the Fort Worth Opera Association, with which he continued to perform. In 1957, together with James H. Snowden, oilman and president of the opera association, Dacus met with Fort Worth city officials to outline plans for the construction of a theater-in-the-round on the site of the former Casa Mañana outdoor amphitheater, which was originally built for the 1936 Texas Frontier Centennial. The new Casa Mañana opened in July 1958, with Dacus serving as a producer. After a successful debut, Dacus was honored as Outstanding Young Man of 1958 by the Fort Worth Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Casa Mañana venue was owned by the city of Fort Worth and leased and operated by a non-profit, Casa Mañana Musicals, Inc., of which Dacus served as vice president and as general manager from 1966 to 1975.

Later Career

In 1974 Dacus formed a production company, Dacus-Shurr Productions, with his wife Katy and Buff Shurr, the former artistic director at Casa Mañana. After retiring from Casa Mañana Musicals he returned to performing. Dacus, often appearing onstage with his wife, toured the dinner theater circuit. Over the years he starred in productions of The Sound of Music, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Fiddler on the Roof, among others. Mel and Katy Dacus starred as Tevye the Dairyman and his wife Golde in Casa Mañana productions in both 1979 and 1993; in the latter year they performed to much fanfare. In 1993 they were honored during the annual Celebrity Breakfast sponsored by the Fort Worth chapter of Women in Communications, Inc., at Will Rogers Memorial Center. Dacus also appeared as Santa Claus in many television commercials and live appearances. His last major stage performance was in a 1995 production of The Price at Theatre Three in Dallas.

Death and Legacy

Melvin Dacus died of congestive heart failure at his home in Fort Worth on October 6, 1999. He was interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth. Upon his death his friends and family established the Melvin O. Dacus Performance Award at TCU. In 2001 Katy Dacus followed her husband in death. The following year TCU renamed its acting studio at the Ed Landreth Hall and Auditorium the Mel & Katy Dacus Acting Studio. The Melvin and Katy Dacus Scholarship was also established for theater students at TCU. Joseph Stecko, Casa Mañana’s longtime musical director, described him as an administrator who consistently made personal sacrifices “to get things done for everybody else” and as an actor who “belonged to that marvelous genre of the handsome baritone leading man.”