A Life In Gowns: Meet Princess Naomi

Ever wonder who we are when we're not all glitzed up, entertaining your little ones with our mad face paint and balloon skills, or dazzling them with our big bag of magic tricks? We're a diverse group of folk, each coming from a different performance background, and with a little bit of a different story. 

Allow me to introduce: Princess Naomi!

Naomi is one of our most experienced and most requested entertainers, and it's really no wonder why. A classically trained theater actor and musical theater performer, Naomi truly embodies each character, and brings her own special brand of silly along, too. She's an incredibly versatile entertainer, and switches easily between the more traditional Princess roles and other, sillier characters. When Naomi was little, her favorite Princess was always the Little Mermaid.

 "She's super goofy and fun, but seriously curious, and always questions everything. Plus, being a mermaid is just awesome!"

As a kid, Naomi used to spend hours in the bath, her little feet crossed, make believing she was a mermaid herself, but she never imagined that she would one day be pretending professionally. 

Naomi had always been passionate about performance and costuming, and when she was little, she dreamed of becoming a professional Ballerina. The first Halloween when she chose her own costume, she was a Mouse Fairy Ballerina. 

After studying musical theater at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Naomi moved to the Bay Area to pursue another long time love: circus. A friend who had been working as a kids' entertainer suggested that Naomi might make a perfect Princess, so Naomi applied to Fire Pixie (thank you, whoever you are!). It started as a great survival job for her while she worked on a variety of different projects and trained circus, but Naomi very quickly fell in love with making kids happy. 

"It's hard to not love what you do when you see all those adorable smiles!" she says. 

Since staring with Fire Pixie, Naomi has done a ton of parties for kids of all ages, but especially loves the 4 year old crowd because "They're old enough that they're engaged, but magic is still very much alive in their imaginations."  

Naomi loves all the characters she plays, but especially enjoys being Ariel and Elsa, since they're both singers, and they really give Naomi a chance to show off her vocal chops. 

"Elsa is also a very powerful character, and definitely not your damsel in distress, so she's really fun to play." says Naomi. "Plus, all the kids absolutely love her." 

Naomi is an excellent face painter, and her magic show is top notch, but she says she really loves doing Crafts with the kids "Because you get to play with them instead of for them, and make something awesome together." 

Naomi remembers one party in particular, where she appeared as Elsa at a birthday celebration for a very special little Princess who was recovering from chemotherapy. 

"Her hair was just starting to come back, and it was so touching watching this little girl and her friends just belting out Let It Go. Overcoming your obstacles and staying strong through your struggles is really what it's all about after all." she says. 

When Naomi's not entertaining kids at parties, she can often be found flying through the air with the greatest of ease as a professional aerialist, or twisting herself in to unfathomable shapes as a contortionist. Learn more about Naomi's circus performance here. 

 

Naomi on her Aerial Frame. Photo by RJ Muna.

If you'd like to invite Naomi to your party to inspire and amaze your little Princess, you can book her here. 

A Life In Gowns: Meet Princess Windy

Ever wonder who we are when we're not all glitzed up, entertaining your little ones with our mad face paint and balloon skills, or dazzling them with our big bag of magic tricks? We're a diverse group of folk, each coming from a different performance background, and with a little bit of a different story. 

Allow me to introduce: Princess Windy!

A born performer, Windy got her start onstage at age 6, when she landed the role of Charlene "Cha Cha" DiGregorio in a production of Grease at her school. She had 4 speaking lines, which was the most of anyone in her age group, and got to dress up and wear makeup, which she thought was the best thing ever! The production was a hit, and Windy was officially hooked. 

When she was small, Windy was convinced that one day, she'd grow up to be a Princess. Not a make-believe Princess, mind you, but real life royalty. Her mother rained on that parade somewhat, though, telling Windy that being Jewish she likely couldn't be a real princess, since most royalty was Christian. But Windy wasn't about to let that stop her, and decided that if real life royalty wasn't in her future, well then she'd be an actress, so she could be whatever she wanted! She spent her childhood with this dream in mind, playing dress up and pretending to be a Queen, and all her friends were, of course, her servants. Her favorite Disney princess was always Ariel, and Windy used to spend hours swimming around in the pool like a mermaid and playing all kinds of mermaid games.

Years later, Windy's love of theater was alive and well, and she worked in theater admin doing marketing and development, helping to bring the magic of live performance to the masses. She started developing her own material, and found that the world of physical comedy was where she wanted to be more than anything. So she attended the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco to develop her skills. It was there that she met Drea, another wonderful entertainer (and Fire Pixie Princess), who clued Windy in to the magic of children's entertainment.

"Kids are the most honest audience," Drea told her. "They'll really tell you if you're funny or not."  

Windy had been on the road, touring her one-woman show through the US and Canada, and needed a job when she landed back in the Bay. Drea had been working with Fire Pixie for a while and was loving it, and thought Windy would be a fantastic addition to our team.  

Boy, was she right! Since then, Windy's performed at tons of parties with Fire Pixie, and her clients absolutely love her!

"I loved Windy's character! She wasn't a 'typical' Fairy Princess, all cutesy and saccharine. She was more like a wacky, bumbling Fairy Godmother with TONS of energy."

"Windy was awesome and the kids loved her. She was a natural and the birthday girl wants another party tomorrow with Windy :). She connected on a personal level with most kids in the party. Several other parents commented that she was the best Elsa they'd seen in a Frozen themed party. She has great energy and improvised adeptly to a variety of situations. I'd work with her again any day! Thanks again for making this a great experience!"

She's got a great repertoire of characters, but especially loves being a Balloon Pixie or Clown, since those are really open and flexible and really give her the opportunity to flex her comedic muscles. She still loves being a Princess too, though, and brings her own flavor of physical comedy to every character she plays.

 

 

"No matter what costume I'm in, I'm always a silly variation on that character, which makes it a little more accessible to the kids. They love seeing Elsa, who's usually a little hard and cold, loosen up a bit and just play with them!" 

Windy loves doing her comedy magic show for kids, especially as Elsa, doing ice and snow magic. The way she does her magic, everything is a joke on her, and she gets to be super silly and make fun of herself. She absolutely loves getting the kids all riled up and poking fun at her, too. 

"It's the most fun ever when kids are sitting there yelling 'It's right there, Elsa!' when you can't find your rainbow or what-have-you", she says. 

She also really loves doing dance parties because she gets to be super physical and run around and really play with the kids, which they absolutely love. She brings tons of fabric to parties, and literally throws them around over the kids' heads, or uses them to make tents for the dance party to happen in, or plays parachute type games. 

Kids of all ages love Windy's show, but she really loves working with the 4 - 5 age group. 

"Four and five-year-olds are the best!" she says. "They understand the magic and really get the comedy and jokes, but they're not trying to challenge it or look for holes in it. They get why it's funny that your rainbow disappeared, or changed in to ice crystals, and they love being a part of making it happen."

Windy's got so many happy memories form parties, but remembers one party in particular with especial fondness: 

"A while back, I was Elsa at a birthday party for an adorable little girl named Emma, who had just turned 5. She was absolutely blown away and just couldn't believe that Elsa had come all the way from Arendelle just to celebrate her birthday with her! She'd drawn 6 pictures for me, which she presented to me with obvious pride, along with a giant rock, which she said I was to take back to Arendelle as a souvenir. She took great care throughout the party to be a good hostess, and make sure I had everything I needed. It was a hot day, and assuming I must be parched, she made me multiple glasses of her very own hydrating birthday cocktail: a combination of lemonade, birthday cake, goldfish crackers, and blueberries." 

Wise beyond her years, Emma knew that doing all that magic and face painting musty be making Elsa hungry, too.

"I brought you a tomato, Elsa!" she said. "A what?" said Windy/Elsa, "We don't have these in Arendelle!" This prompted Emma to take her inside to show her the fridge where they keep all their food. At the end of the party, she threw her arms around Windy and gave her a big kiss. "I love you Elsa!" she said. "My heart just melted", says Windy. 

When she's not entertaining kids at parties, Windy's busy running her very own company: taking care of all the marketing, outreach, costuming, and production. "It's a full time job," she says, "but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing!" She continues to tour her award winning one woman theatrical comedy show around the US and Canada with great success, and is working on developing a half hour kid's stage show, too.

If you'd like to invite Windy to your party to make your guests giggle with glee, you can book her here.

Elsa Mermaid Video -- Truly Unique Frozen Party Idea

Are you sick of Frozen parties yet?  :)  We're keeping it fresh by magically transforming Elsa into a real, live, swimming mermaid for pool parties.  If she can't decide between having Ariel come and swim or having Elsa, we've got a solution... Elsa the Mermaid!

Frozen Elsa Mermaid Available for Parties in the San Francisco Bay Area

 What if Elsa decided she wanted to become a mermaid for the day?

Well, we already know she has wardrobe transformation powers.  She can also create life.  Who's to say she couldn't wave her hand and transform herself into a mermaid?

Introducing Mermaid Elsa -- available for parties and events in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Invite her to your birthday party and your guests' jaws will drop.  The only thing better than swimming with a Mermaid is swimming with their favorite Ice Queen, transformed into a mermaid!

This is a unique swim party idea that kids age 2-12 will just love, and adults will light up too when they see Elsa the Mermaid swim.

Elsa the Mermaid

For an over-the-top unforgettable pool party, invite both Elsa and Ariel to your event and watch them swim together.  They will tell stories of how Elsa got to swim under the sea to visit Atlantia, meet King Triton and Sebastian the Crab, and learn what it's like to Let it Go and experience the sea.

Mermaids Elsa and Ariel

More about our Swimming Mermaid shows here.

Thoughts on Playing Elsa the Ice Queen (Frozen) at Parties

With Disney's new Frozen movie out, and me being a Princess, I had to make the Elsa dress.  Had to do it!

I originally saw the movie and related more to Anna, the younger sister (the silly one!).  But when I saw Elsa's dress and amazingmagicalpowers, I knew that she was the one I wanted to be.  Superficial?  I want to be the powerful tormented one because she's pretty?  Well, yes.  At first.

The Elsa character is turning out to be INCREDIBLY popular, especially with 6-7 year old girls.  I thought they'd relate more to Anna, like I did.. but Elsa is the one everyone wants at their party.  Is it, like me, because of the pretty pretty dress?  The more I think about it, the more I think it goes deeper than that.

I'm really familiar with all the princess or princess-related Disney stories and movies.  This is what I do, after all.  And the more I develop the Elsa show and find the parts of the story that resonate with the kids, the more I think it's Power, rather than Beauty, that draw the kids to Elsa.

Elsa is the first Disney Princess ever to have Power.  Sure, Rapunzel could sing and make her hair light up, and Merida can shoot like nobody's busines, but Elsa controls the weather!  She can build ice palaces with a wave of her hand, she can make her own fabulous dress instead of getting a fairy godmother to do it for her, and she can even create living snowmen.  She's got more power in her little finger than all the rest of the Princesses combined.

He didn't stand a chance.

No other female character in Disney's history has this kind of power. So far, it's been absolutely amazing to watch the little girls see, relate to, and feel that power inside their own imaginations.  The Let it Go song sends them into a frenzy of singing, dancing, and pretend-ice-sculpting.  They want to know how I made Olaf talk.  They want to see and feel and hear about learning to control that much power.  The kids like the dress (they like it a whole lot), but they LOVE the magic.

Thanks Disney, for giving us a Princess who can rival any Marvel Superhero in strength, grace, and absolute magic.