Youth, says Creede Repertory Theatre lifer John Gary Brown, “seemed like a permanent condition in the endless summer of 1974.” He was brand new to the magical seductions of the La Garita Mountains 250 miles southwest of Denver. His perpetual sunshine and wife-to-be, Christy Brandt, was playing a 14-year-old in “The Philadelphia Story.” They were that young.

Fast forward to the summer of 2023 when Brandt, who has since turned 75, was playing a deliciously mean old lady in what was believed to be her 135th role with the company. It was the world premiere of “Mountain Octopus,” a new play by Beth Kander set in a former mining town much like Creede.

It’s impossible to overstate what Brandt and Brownie – as he is known to his friends, which is everyone – have come to mean to this company and this community over the past 50 years. The couple, who winter in Lawrence, Kan., have migrated back to Creede most every summer, giving her a singular place in Colorado theater history – and in the town.

“If you have come to Creede at any time over the past 50 years,” interim Artistic Director Kate Berry said, “Christy Brandt has been part of your experience.” Onstage and off.

Nearly the entire town came to Brandt’s aid in 1983 during one of the worst floods in Creede history. Heavy snow runoff had swollen the Willow Creek flume, which was built to redirect the meltoff from Main Street. Brandt’s dog, Pooch Junior, had been lightly bumped by a passing car and in his confusion ran straight into the flume. Brandt ran downstream but, as she intercepted the quickly passing dog, she was propelled into the freezing, 4-foot waters herself. As they were battered by the rock-lined flume, onlookers took to every bridge along the way. Six hardy heroes jumped in to grab Brandt, but only one – the county judge – could stand up against the tide.

“I heard him say, ‘Don’t worry, honey, I got you,’” Brandt said. “Then I barreled right into him, and as I passed, I could hear him say, “‘Don’t worry, honey, I’m right behind you!”‘

Brandt eventually was rescued, treated for hypothermia and back onstage that night. (The judge, though, was a mite miffed to learn she had been clasping a dog rather than a baby. The dog lost some toenails, but was otherwise OK.)

On stage, Brandt is the best Colorado actor you may never have seen on stage before. Former Artistic Director Maurice LaMee, commenting for the book “Stories from the First 50 Years,” says he can still hear Brandt’s “soul-shattering scream” upon the discovery of her son’s apparent suicide in Arthur Miller’s 2001 “All My Sons.”

“It’s the single most devastating moment I’ve ever seen on a stage,” he said.

Brandt only solidified her already well-established legacy this past summer. “Mountain Octopus” is set in a town diner that has been shuttered by the pandemic. Brandt’s crankypants Martha got to act as the town’s unwelcome truth-teller – while pulling along an oxygen tank she calls Billy.

“Christy is a treasure in Creede,” said her Denver-based director, Betty Hart. “Everywhere you go, people know her. It’s really quite extraordinary to watch from the outside. But she’s also a real artist who still loves getting specific feedback that can help her grow her characters. I loved her humor and her vulnerability. She is generous, warm, kind and loving.”

Said former Creede Rep Producing Artistic Director John DiAntonio: “She’s the connection to our history, but also to our present.”

The praise makes Brandt’s cheeks turn pink. “After all, we’re just a couple of old hippies who never really grew out of it,” she said.

18 hours, 500 miles, 2 plays and a heart filled by magic of Creede | John Moore

Brownie was honored with his own full-blown celebration in September after he announced that 2023 would be his last as the company’s photographer-slash-chronicler (and occasional actor). In that time, Creede Repertory Theatre has grown from a small troupe started in 1966 by ambitious students from the University of Kansas into the largest employer in Mineral County, with two theater spaces dotting Main Street.  

Brownie and Brandt live in a house just a block from one of those theaters. It’s the pink one. Literally. It’s painted pink, it has a sign that says “The Pink House,” and in front flies a red Creede flag that, appropriately, has faded to pink. (There’s also a sign that says ‘Insane Asylum Entrance.” It’s apropos …  but it’s not pink.)

Brandt, whose first summer at Creede Rep was in 1973, playing opposite future stage and screen star Mandy Patinkin, is moving full force into 2024 for her official 50th summer season. She’s played some heavy roles over the years, like a South African widow in Athol Fugard’s “The Road to Mecca.” But in 2024, Creede Rep will celebrate Brandt’s milestone season by having her play something far lighter – Oscar Wilde’s bracing battleax Lady Bracknell in the classic “The Importance of Being Earnest.” She will also have an essential cameo in the musical “Young Frankenstein.”

Brandt was hoping for a comedy to mark her Golden Anniversary season – “because comedy is harder than drama,” she said. And she’s mindful of what reaching 50 years with one company will signify.

“It means that I’ve gotten to live most of my life doing my art alongside my husband doing his art, and living the way we want to live,” she said. “I think everybody wants to follow their dream – but not many people get to do it.”

Note: The True West Awards, now in their 23rd year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community by revisiting 30 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.