Deepa Bharath
The man with flowing white hair and beard looks like the guy next
door in Newport Beach.
He's dressed in a Hawaiian print shirt and shorts. He sits with
his guitar on the back of his boat, overlooking the serene bay,
singing and writing his own music.
But when Dave Dixon steps on stage as a performer, he turns up the
energy. The atmosphere is instantly electrified by his rich, baritone
voice. He stands before his audience as a larger-than-life person,
portraying characters from literary classics.
He is Don Quixote. He's Jim Fiddler. He's King Arthur. In short,
to his audience, he's pretty amazing.
The 56-year-old entertainer, who lives in Balboa Peninsula, has
been singing and playing the guitar since he was 12.
"Music was my first love and my passion," he said. "It's the only
thing I wanted to do."
His rich, baritone voice made music easy for him.
Dixon moved to California from Pittsburgh in 1955. He majored in
music at Azusa Pacific University.
But Dixon realized that it wasn't easy to make a profession out of
music. So, he had a paint and auto body shop for 20 years to
supplement his income.
Now, he pursues his passion full-time. Dixon calls himself "a
party animal for the older generation."
He does retirements, corporate parties and anniversaries. He
performs for Rotary Clubs and fundraisers at local restaurants. He
also performs at and officiates weddings. And Dixon is a regular
performer at Regatta Cafe on Via Lido.
Dixon is a versatile performer who can switch musical genres
before you can say rock-'n'-roll. But his forte is Broadway.
Dixon travels with a bamboo case in which he stores his costumes.
And as he goes about his banter with the audience, he opens it up and
picks a costume. He is Don Quixote with his stuck-on white hair and
beard and his sword. In an instant, he switches to a character from
"Fiddler on the Roof," then "Les Miserables." He lets the costumes
and characters tell the story.
Broadway is what Dixon does best, said Kate McCary, a publicist
for Mamma Gina's Italian restaurant in Newport Beach, where she books
him for shows.
"He has a powerful voice and a presence," she said. "He has a wide
repertoire, and the audience simply loves him."
The beauty of Dixon's performance lies in his versatility, McCary
said.
"He can instantly go from doing 'Fiddler on the Roof' to a love
song from 'Camelot,'" she said. "It's a pleasure to watch him do
that."
Dixon says there is more dimension to his performance than the
