Dana Dawson (August 7, 1974 – August 10, 2010) was an American actress and singer.Dawson made her acting debut at the age of 7 in a national tour of Annie. She was an understudy of the character Mimi, in the national tour of Rent in 2000 and joined the Broadway cast in 2001. [1]\r 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