Several of his compositions became all-time classics. He was attracted to and had achievements in several different artistic forms of expression: poetry, painting, theater, and sculpture. He opened in theater in 1912 with Forrobodó (with music by Chiquinha Gonzaga), which had 1,500 performances. A series of other successful musicals: "Morro da Favela," "Flor de Catumbi," "Dança de Velho," "República do Itapiru," "Três Pancadas," "Meia Noite e Trinta," "Vai Dar Que Falar" (which launched Carmen Miranda in the stage in 1930), and "Secos e Molhados," among others, followed.

Peixoto studied theater in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France. In Paris, France, he worked with Lugne Po staging plays. As a lyricist, he wrote "Maria" (recorded by Sílvio Caldas in 1932), "Por Causa Desta Cabocla" (recorded by Sílvio Caldas in 1935), "Na Batucada da Vida" (recorded by Carmen Miranda in 1934) (with Ary Barroso), "Sussuarana" (recorded by Gastão Formenti in 1927), "Casa de Caboclo" (recorded by Gastão Formenti in 1928), "Nosso Tempo no Colégio," "Azulão" (recorded by Januário de Oliveira in 1929), "Estrela Pequenina," "Minha Terra Tem," "Tenho Uma Raiva de Você," "Rosinha Seguiu Viagem" (with Hekel Tavares), "Na Paz do Senhor," "Isso é Brasil" (recorded by Deo in 1947), "O Docinho de Laiá" (recorded by Maria da Graça in 1947) (with José Maria de Abreu), "Folga, Nego" (recorded by Linda Batista in 1942), "Voltei pro Morro" (recorded by Carmen Miranda in 1940), "Disseram Que Voltei Americanizada" (recorded by Carmen Miranda in 1940) (with Vicente Paiva), "O Que Foi Que Eu Fiz" (with Augusto Vasseur), "Preto e Branco" (recorded by Aracy Cortes in 1930, with Augusto Vasseur/Marques Porto), "Casa de Sopapo" (with Custódio Mesquita, recorded by Nelson Gonçalves in 1944), and one of the great classics of Brazilian popular music, "Ai, Loiô" (presented in the theater in 1928 by Aracy Cortes and recorded in 1929; this is the song that launched the samba-canção style, with Henrique Vogeler and, arguably, Marques Porto), among many others. ~ Alvaro Neder