Character Acting

This holiday season, you don't need to pester the fat-suited Santa Claus at the local mall to find area performers willing to gift-wrap themselves inside a second skin. New England stages are filled with some bright and shining stars evoking the spirit of the season through a variety of characters: some are their own creation, some are striking doppelgangers of other stars, but all have a subversive sense of humor - not to mention, a stocking full of talent - that they're willing to share with audiences.
Here are a few shows worth adding to your wish list.

Miss Pixie's Cable Access Holiday Extravaganza!

"She's actually not a drag queen!"

So explains Casey Seymour Kim, resident actor at Rhode Island's Gamm Theatre, about her titular alter ego in "Miss Pixie's Cable Access Holiday Extravaganza!" To be fair, there's some cause for confusion: Beehive hairdo? Check. Colorful wardrobe? Check. Camp humor, retro sensibility, delusions of fame grandeur, and potentially uproarious (and potentially awkward) audience interaction? Check, check, check and check, with snaps in a Z formation.

But besides the obvious difference that Kim is a 100 percent, non-surgically enabled woman, there are some other differences.

"She's an extreme character, but not as far out camp," says Kim. "I consider drag to be its own art form, and this is definitely not a studied tribute to another person. Miss Pixie loves to think she's naughty, but she's not. And [unlike drag queens], she can't deal with hecklers!"

Hopefully she won't have to, but when you're hosting a theatrical reenactment of live TV anything can happen. In "Miss Pixie", Kim's character addresses the audience as a C-level child star now all grown up and angling to host her own low-budget, holiday variety show on local access television. There are a few problems: Pixie is the only one convinced of her former fame, her cultural references are stuck in the shagadelic '60s, and her show's various segments, from giving the audience a tour of her festive home to guest interviews with Santa Claus and several song and dance numbers, might inspire you to turn seasonal shades of red with embarrassment, green with nausea, or white with awestruck confusion.

"She was a child star, but it just didn't work out," laughs Kim of her character's hilarious antics. "When everyone else went to Vegas, she went to Tahoe. And she thinks she's a size 4, no matter what the reality."

In reality, Kim is a 10-year Rhode Island transplant (by way of San Francisco) who doubles her acting work by teaching high school drama classes. She concocted the Pixie character and wrote the show herself. Though she's not immediately keen to turn Pixie into a recurring stage character she's open to the idea if audiences respond well to this first variety show spoof. Or at least, Pixie is open to it.
"Let's face it, she'd probably do anything for a buck," laughs Kim.

Miss Pixie's Cable Access Holiday Extravaganza! runs from Dec. 11 - 23 at Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, RI). Tickets $25, but for information on reduced rates for select performances, a full list of show times and more info, visit: gammtheatre.org.

Bob Gautreau's Christmas Carol(s): Impressions of the Season

Holiday specials can sometimes dabble in questionable casting: did anyone really want to see former Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger making a Yule fool of himself in Jingle All the Way? Then again, evidently enough Californians are eager to see him do the same as a governor...

But imagine this star-studded lineup: Archie Bunker as "A Christmas Carol"'s miserly Scrooge, Sammy Davis Jr. as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Bea Arthur as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and (who else?) President-elect Barack Obama as the Ghost of Christmas Future. Now imagine all of these roles being played by one rubber-faced, loose-limbed, tongue-twisting comedian, and you'll have some idea of what Bob Gautreau goes through on any given perform ance night.

"It's a totally different discipline from acting," says Gautreau of his comic impression work. "In acting, you work from the inside out... but with impressions, you work from the outside in. You know exactly what the final product is supposed to look like."

Gautreau has plenty of practice. He's been working comedy club stages in New England since 1978, but still remembers his even earlier experiments with impressions. "I would do Lily Tomlin as Ernestine when I was a kid," he says, adding that he began honing his facial skills through mirror work and learned to replicate vocal patterns by lying on his floor and using speakers as bookends for his attentive ears.
Still, recreating the look, speech, and mannerisms of the biggest stars of stage and screen can be a daunting task. In Impressions of the Season, Gautreau can inhabit literally dozens of roles in a single show, each accompanied by a slightly (OK, sometimes substantially) revamped holiday song that he's composed specifically for their character: "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" takes on a whole new meaning when performed by Dr. Ruth; "We Three Kings" is a lively little trio by Elton John, Harvey Fierstein and Richard Simmons; and "8 Days of Chanukah" brings Barbra Streisand to full throated life.

While some of the music numbers might be sassy, saucy, and sarcastic, Gautreau says it's all in good fun.
"To me, Christmas is about the festival of lights without the sunshine. So why be depressed?" he says. "It's supposed to be a jolly season, but everyone is so fucking cranky!"
"Most of what I do is poking fun at people being grumpy," says Gautreau.

Bob Gautreau's Christmas Carol(s): Impressions of the Season will stage a full 90 minute show on Sunday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m. at the Spiegel Auditorium, 56 Brattle St., Cambridge. Tickets $15 ($5 off for saying "I Love Martha Stewart" at the door).

Abbreviated 45 minute shows will stage on Friday, Dec. 12 at Jokers in Portland, Maine (510 Warren Ave; 8 p.m.), on Saturday, December 13 at Sunset Bar and Grille in North Providence, RI (888 Charles St.; 9 p.m.) and on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 26 and 27 at Kowloon in Saugus (948 Broadway; 8 p.m.).

Romance: A Classical Queer Holiday Show

Andrew Alexander has a refreshingly honest approach to his job.

"A fat guy with a beard, who can sing. Might as well work it!"

Laughing heartily over the phone line, Alexander has the natural ho-ho-ho of a famous Christmastime icon and in fact, he has a weekend gig this holiday season playing Santa Claus for kiddie photo ops in Boston's Downtown Crossing. But for his Dec. 5 show at Club Caf?, Alexander will call on another big inspiration: Luciano Pavarotti, the famous Italian opera tenor.

Alexander's singing career has been filled with opportunities to sing as himself, not as an impersonator. He began performing in school and church performances at the tender age of six, attended years of summer programming at Tanglewood as a teen, received his degree in voice performance, worked for five years with Boston Baroque, appeared on Grammy nominated recordings and has been featured on regional and national television.

But if any single thing might be considered a turning point, it was the idea to make good on his physical and vocal resemblances.

"I started to 'become' Pavarotti about ten years ago," says Alexander. "I was doing a men's weekend, and one of the guys said, 'Why don't you sing for my girlfriend?'... And a monster was born!"

Ever since, Alexander has performed literally hundreds of times in restaurants, at parties, and as hired by individuals to provide private serenades for a loved one. These small gigs have often led to substantially larger ones.

"I was singing at a restaurant in the North End, and a gentlemen came up to me and asked, 'Are you free tomorrow?'" recalls Alexander. As it turned out, the curious diner was with the corporate sponsorship team behind a major event at the TD Banknorth Garden. "He asked me to sing the national anthem for the event, and 24 hours later there I was in front of 10,000 people."

For his more intimate performance at Club Cafe, Alexander will serenade his crowd in various musical styles and several different tongues, all to express the universal language of love that is so important to harness during the holiday season.

"It's about finding the love of the holidays," says Alexander of his show. "I find that around this time of year people are more kind and compassionate to their fellow humans."

In fact, the performer is willing to get in on that act himself.

"Bring more than five friends, and you'll get a kiss from Pavarotti," he promises. "More than eight? Well, we'll have to talk about that."

Romance will make audiences swoon on Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. at Club Caf? (209 Columbus Ave., Boston). Tickets $15. For more info on Andrew Alexander, visit: andrewalexander.com