SODigest, February 2nd, 1999.
Performer of the Week -- Cady McClain (Dixie, ALL MY CHILDREN)
When a daytime damsel is in distress, it often means that viewers must settle in for what could be months of relentless, over-the-top hand-wringing. ALL MY CHILDREN’s Dixie has every reason to sink into despair. The single mom is battling a life-threatening illness that derailed a blossoming reconciliation with her true love, Tad. All this could easily make for sudsy melodrama, but not in the hands of Cady McClain, whose multilayered portrayal infuses Dixie with a convincing complexity.
The fan favorite is equally adept at turning in emotionally heavy, as well as lighthearted scenes. When a hospitalized Dixie was hooked up to feeding tubes and gasping for breath, the anguish was almost unbearable but never crossed the line to overwrought. During Dixie’s recent teasing line dance performed for Tad’s benefit, McClain was saucy and subtly seductive, but sidestepped overheated hoofing.
McClain also has a knack for turning the potentially mundane into a special moment. When AMC trotted out the ancient gag of finishing a fracas by having somebody fling a Ming vase, McClain’s timing and unaffected performance managed to turn even that cliched act into something...smashing.
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When a daytime damsel is in distress, it often means that viewers must settle in for what could be months of relentless, over-the-top hand-wringing. ALL MY CHILDREN’s Dixie has every reason to sink into despair. The single mom is battling a life-threatening illness that derailed a blossoming reconciliation with her true love, Tad. All this could easily make for sudsy melodrama, but not in the hands of Cady McClain, whose multilayered portrayal infuses Dixie with a convincing complexity.