Dana Dawson

Dana Dawson (August 7, 1974 – August 10, 2010) was an American singer and actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 7 in a national tour of Annie. She was an understudy in the national tour of Rent in 2000 and joined the Broadway cast in 2001 as an understudy/swing. In an interview in The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) Dawson said that she was given time to become secure in each of the two roles she understudied—Mimi and Joanne—before learning the other. As a singer, Dawson released Paris New York And Me, her debut album, in 1991. Her second album, Black Butterfly, was released in October 1995 by EMI and included three singles that made the UK Top 40 chart: "3 Is Family" reached number 7 in July 1995, "Got to Give Me Love" reached number 27 in October 1995, and "Show Me" reached number 28 in May 1996. The Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire featured her 2001 single, "Nice Life". Several multi-track "singles" of Dawson's music have been released in the United Kingdom, including 3 Is Family, Got To Give Me Love, and How I Wanna Be Loved. Dawson's songs are included on many other albums, including EMI's Music of the Twentieth Century: 1980-1999 and Virgin's Best Dance Album 1995; she also performed on the Michael W. Smith 1989 Gospel album I 2 Eye.