I've Got A Crush On You: Episode 1

I think I fall in love with someone new, like, every other week. These people come into my life, whether they know it or not, and infuse me with drive and a renewed sense of purpose.

My latest, and the first profiled for this feature that I may or may not keep up with (to be determined), is a local actress, playwright, and historian (yup), Dawn Brodey.

I officially met Dawn a couple of weeks ago at the Bryant Lake Bowl when we were both involved in the Bill Clinton show of Salon Saloon. She presented a historical timeline piece on the controversial presidencies throughout U.S. History, ultimately positing that Clinton's Lewinsky scandal really wasn't so bad, in comparison with the Commander-In-Chief company he keeps. It was hilarious AND educational.

But I first discovered Dawn when I came out to visit the ex (and do Fringe) in August 2007 before I moved to the Twin Cities, he and I attended "We Gotta Bingo," one of those cheesy, interactive theatrical shows that gets suburbanites off the couch and "out on the town" to experience some "culture." I do not mean to be judgmental: there is something for everyone. And who am I to pick on this kind of entertainment anyway: I still have a day job that sucks my soul out. Dawn, with flaming burgundy hair and tattooed forearms, was clearly the coolest, punkest person in the cast... and clearly, she was A-OK with being involved in such a production. A production that Courtney-of-that-time cast off as artless and pandering. Maybe so. But Dawn was having fun with it, getting paid to be on stage, and - and perhaps this is me projecting - she was not taking herself so seriously that she couldn't do a show that made people I am way too quick to judge laugh and let go.

I remembered Dawn. I didn't really see much more of her afterward, nor was I looking, till I saw Facebook photos of her and another amazing actress about town, Mo Perry (another crush from before I started this blog), during a cross-country road trip on which they embarked together. Crush grew. (I did admit to her I had looked through these photos when we met. She responded with, "I would rather drive through Indiana than fly to some tropical locale" or something like that. I think I emphatically agreed with a dazed "Uh Huh." Wow, Court. Fountain of conversation. A geyser.)

Then there was Salon Saloon. She was on stage in a red and white-striped top and navy blue skirt like a sexy American flag, red lipstick, and earrings and bangles, CLASS all the way home. And her VOICE. Raspy, adorable, sexy, fun. Dawn seems like the kind of woman that never gets drunk or high and does or says things she regrets. It's okay if someday she ruins this image of herself to me because then that means we're partying together.

I also finally went to fellow Rockstar Storyteller Dave Mondy's quarterly BLB show, The Entertainment Machine, this past Sunday and there was Dawn again. I wasn't aware she was in this show, I wasn't sure she would recognize me from our meeting a few weeks prior in the same space, and I'm pretty sure she caught me staring at her on stage (she was on the "back line," not the focus of what was currently happening, so I "should have" been looking at whomever was talking... probably Dave). She looked amazing again! She was nautical American again! Cherry red lips and matching shoes! I was entranced and probably very creepy. Sigh.

Today I somehow stumbled upon her website (totally accidental, not stalking at all) and learned SHE LIVES ON A HOUSEBOAT. Thus sealing my utter girl-crush, seething envy, and desire to actually BE HER.

By the by, I texted The Leading Man right away and said, "Let's buy a houseboat on the Mississippi." "Okay" he texted back. AWESOME.