Theater
‘Miss Pixie’ brings unique humor to Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket for holiday show
01:00 AM EST on Thursday, December 11, 2008

Casey Seymour Kim brings “Miss Pixie” to the Gamm Theatre.
After an extended engagement on the West Coast, which is to say a month-long stay at Betty Ford, Miss Pixie is back in Pawtucket to treat her devoted fans to a night of original songs and tales from those golden years when she was the child star of such classic films as Little Miss Mark-Up, Lox, Stox and Bagels and Purim Parade.
For two weeks, starting today, Martha “Pixie” Feingold will be entertaining audiences at Pawtucket’s Gamm Theatre with a show that promises to be like no other, a unique holiday experience. You’ve loved her as the host of Channel 3’s Late Night Clubhouse. Now you get to see Miss Pixie in her first Cable Access Holiday Extravaganza, as she sings and “dances” her way into your heart.
Actually, Miss Pixie is the brainchild of Casey Seymour Kim, a Gamm regular and a born comic. She and Trinity Rep spokeswoman Marilyn Busch developed the character several years ago for a show at Perishable Theatre. Kim continued to play Miss Pixie for fundraising events and the like, and Gamm artistic director Tony Estrella caught the act one night. Would Kim be interested in expanding the persona and put together a holiday show, Estrella wanted to know?
Kim, who teaches theater at School One in Providence, agreed to do it, and got cracking on the project at the end of the summer. And she seems as curious as anyone to see how the show will fly.
“We’re encouraging people to have a glass of wine before they come,” said Kim. “As long as they understand it’s just an evening of campy fun. It’s nothing more.”
What Kim has come up with is a lighthearted skit that runs for about 85 minutes, a cable-access show with all the trimmings.
Gamm veteran Chris Byrnes will make a cameo appearance as Santa. But don’t expect a night of traditional holiday fare. The songs are original, written by Kim, David Rabinow and Charles Cofone. Among the selections, look for an up-tempo number called “Holidays in Pawtucket.”
“Hey, ho! Whaddya know!,” Kim will be singing. “It’s holidays in Pawtucket. We’ve got songs and sing-alongs and inebriatin’ eggnog by the bucket.”
Besides Santa, and of course Miss Pixie, the show features the talents of Karen the Intern, played by comedienne Melissa Bowler, and Kevin the Accompanist, played by James Calitri. He “plays” the piano, even though there is no live music.
The show is not recommended for children, not because it is vulgar, said Kim, but because the cultural references die out around the late 1970s. Kim just doesn’t think kids will get the humor.
The idea behind the Holiday Extravaganza, she said, is that the Gamm audience doubles as the studio audience for the cable show, during which Miss Pixie will regale onlookers with stories about show biz. It’s an attempt to recreate the TV holiday variety shows of bygone days.
Members of the audience also get to answer trivia questions, then pick a gift from the Kwanzaa table — things like tickets to a canceled concert.
And they will get to hear how after her juvenile film career faded, Miss Pixie created her own cabaret and hit the Lake Tahoe circuit. For a while she was the star of her own children’s TV show, Miss Pixie’s Neighborhood, and now she has landed her own late-night talk show, which she hosts in between visits to the Vivien Leigh Home for Recovering Sirens.
Kim described her alter-ego as a woman who is in “perpetual recovery,” someone who “celebrates everything,” hence the pentagram on the Christmas tree.
“I’m sure she’s appeared on Fantasy Island and The Love Boat,” said Kim.
Miss Pixie’s Cable Access Holiday Extravaganza opens today at the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, and it runs through Dec. 23. Tickets are $15 for tonight’s preview and $25 for all other performances. Call (401) 723-4266.
| Green eggs, no ham | |
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