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GALE LAJOYE: LIKE NO OTHER

“I’d like people to walk away with the idea that everyone matters in the world.”

Gale LaJoye grew up and lives in Marquette, Michigan. It is here that LaJoye began and continues to study how people respond to situations and each other. Over time, LaJoye has learned how to integrate his observations into funny and poignant stories without words – stories that turn sorrow into joy and inspire us to embrace life. LaJoye has worked to make a difference in the lives of others his entire life. In college he enrolled in pre-law. When required to take a humanities or theatre course, LaJoye chose theatre. Soon after, he shifted his focus from pre-law to theatre, when he discovered how plays can change people’s lives. His initial dramatic roles were in Chekov’s “Three Sisters” and as the lead, Randle McMurphy in “One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest.” Early on, LaJoye developed a reputation for portraying complex characters - characters that rely on physical humor and non-verbal communication. After college, LaJoye immersed himself in pantomime and the Japanese art of Kabuki. In 1973, LaJoye ran off to Florida to be with the greatest show on earth – Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. While with the circus, he mastered the art of gesture, silent communication, and poignant short story telling. Within four years, LaJoye became “Boss Clown” – one of the highest honors in the circus tradition. In 1979 fate dealt Gale LaJoye a crushing blow. After a car accident, his doctors advised him he would “never walk again.” Driven to be a performer, LaJoye immediately began rebuilding his body and using humor to heal his mind and soul. Today, you would never imagine LaJoye was once paralyzed. After regaining his balance and the ability to perform physical stunts in the early 1980’s, LaJoye produced the critically acclaimed and much loved “Too Foolish for Words.” After touring this silent comedy around the globe, LaJoye set to work to produce “Snowflake.” After premiering Snowflake in 1990, LaJoye embarked on a global tour. LaJoye’s Snowflake has toured throughout Asia, Australia, Mexico, Canada Scotland, Ireland and the United States. Hailed by critics and audiences alike as “a must see,” LaJoye has performed Snowflake thousands of times. In Japan alone he toured Snowflake to 300 cities. When not on tour with Snowflake, LaJoye is developing his next tour de force. His next production is slated to premiere after this Encore Tour of Snowflake ends. Like no other, Gale LaJoye weaves different schools of theatre into funny and poignant stories that help adults and children turn sorrow into joy.

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THE INSPIRATION:

Gale LaJoye’s character of snowflake is in fact based on a real man from his hometown of Marquette, Michigan. Gale talks about this man, Don Steglein better known as Snowflake, in the following, He didn’t care if he had things or not. He lived very simply in a small room above Doc’s Corner store and newsstand. What really mattered to him was just his interaction in the community. I knew Snowflake when I was growing up in town but got to know him better when I was going to college. Some of my friends from school lived in the same building and shared a kitchen and bath with Don. There was hardly a day or night that went by if you were in downtown Marquette that you didn’t run into Don walking the streets or sitting drinking coffee in the local cafes. Whenever I came back to town after being away, sometimes arriving two or three in the morning, I would drive slow taking note of all the things that have changed while I was gone. A building torn down and a parking lot in its place or a gift shop where I used to get a haircut. There was one thing that didn’t change; there was always “Snowflake”. He was not a homeless man but he had a small room above Doc’s Corners. His days and night were spent walking the street of my hometown of Marquette Michigan. His appearance was kind of Cahplinesque in effect. He wore green worker pants that never fit, and suspenders that had the elastic stretched out of them. Sometimes he wore shoes turned up at the toes or a pair of oversized boots. No matter if it was summer or winter he always carried his air force parka. The pockets were filled with everything from sardines to donuts. Whatever what he pulled out of those pockets, it could be a loaf of Bunny Bread and a huge stack of baloney, Snowflake was always willing to give you half.

In the winter he wore his hood up checking the street curb, a tunnel vision looking for lost treasure; Somebody’s loose change dropped while feeding the parking meter, a nickel here or a dime there, sometimes only a little piece of foil from a gum wrapper that glittered up from the snow. If you beeped your horn when you drive by and he would look up and from that faceless hood and out of the dark a huge smile would shine out and then a hand wave. You knew that you were home.

His name was Don Stenglein. Everyone called him Snowflake. Why? Maybe because like a snowflake, each one with a pattern of its own, he too was a unique individual, a one of a kind.

People who didn’t know him thought he was a bum. He was not a bum, walking the streets was his way of life.

It took time and practice to understand him. For those of us that took that time to get know him, there are many stories to tell and when we do there is always a smile on our face.

I don’t know what it is about getting to know someone like Don. You start to think what is really important in your life. It’s not about material things; it's about family, friends and the more simple pleasures in life.

Sometime its people that have the least that give us the most.

Snowflake is not a story of Don’s life but a story of his character. It’s my way of putting a face on faceless people.

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH GALE LAJOYE

Conducted by TPAC teaching artist, Jill Massie

Jill: How do you keep yourself looking at the world through new glasses? How do you keep the sense of discovery in your work so fresh?

Gale: As far as the work is concerned, I believe strongly in it so I’m always reinvigorated when I do the performance. The response from the audience really does feed me. The challenge for me as a performer is to make each performance feel like it is being done for the first time, each discovery surprise and wonderment to the character.

Jill: I’ve had such a problem myself narrowing several show ideas down and finding a clear direction.

Gale: I have the same problem. I have several ideas for shows but I can’t decide which one I want to spend the rest of my life working on. When I have an idea for a number, I write it down on a scrap of paper and throw it into a shoe box. Every now and then I will go through the box and see how many times an idea or varied versions of that idea would appear. If it appears enough times then I would take it out of the box and start working on it. If it is not working out then I throw it back in the box. One idea I’ve been working on has been in and out of the box many times over the last fifteen years. I have the beginning and the ending but I just can’t figure out the middle. Not everything works out on paper. For me it is important to get my hands on something physical to continue the creative process. One I’ll have one of those aha moments and it will come to me. It will be something so simple you can’t believe you didn’t think of it before.

Jill: I found the theme of working with discarded objects very intriguing.

Gale: I’m from the seventies era when recycling first started. Now with recycling we can find new purpose in what we used to throw away. Snowflake gives discarded objects new life by turning them into playful pops. Yes, it’s a boot but what else can it be? Not only do we discard objects that we no longer have use for we also discard people. Snowflake and the puppet are no longer a part of the American dream and have to make the best of their world with what is around them.

Jill: How was the creation of the puppet derived? What was important to you about the way he looked and moved?

Gale: I was looking for something that didn’t look too real, but more like a toy and yet when he comes to life appear very childlike. I found a European drawing of a face in an old puppet book. I made the body, and I had friend craft the head and faced out of papier-mâché. I have a safety copy made from fiberglass in case the original meets with an accident breaks, but the expression doesn’t come to life like the papier-mâché one. There is no magic. The idea was to use the puppet as a theatrical convention to keep the imaginary fourth wall up. I’ve seen a lot of one-man shows where the performer speaks directly to the audience, relying on them for key elements of the show. I wanted the comedy to come from my character and what he is doing in his world. When you bring an audience member into your show, who is getting the laugh you or the poor sap you brought up on stage. The comedy comes at their expense. It does take skill to work with people on stage but I feel it takes a lot more skill to work alone where all depends on you as a performer. So by entertaining the puppet or child I’m entertaining the audience while keeping the fourth wall.

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Jill: How did the bill board come about and did its meaning change for you over the years?

Gale: The billboard represents a vision of an idyllic and secure life (a dream perpetuated when I was growing up in our “Dick and Jane” books) it’s a juxtaposition because that’s not the way the rest of the world operates and it is not Snowflake’s reality. On one side of the fence is “life the way it’s supposed to be, and on this side of the fence with Snowflake, this is the reality of a lot people in the world. The billboard reads “Security home life Insurance”. Everything’s supposed to be secure, and yet it’s not. Being an artist and going through some difficult times after surgery a few years ago, the billboard has exactly the same meaning as it did when I started. Part of that emotion came from the first ascendant which was 27 years ago, when I was left paralyzed. I was making a living as a performer, and my physical ability was my performance. With that there is a feeling of vulnerability that you are one accident away from becoming “Snowflake”. I was already there once and faced it again with the need for more spinal surgery. My message is that we are all vulnerable. One accident can change your life, and you should extend your hand to help those in need because you never know when you may need to reach for their hand in return.

Jill: I was taken by the real simple tempo of the performance. Can you talk about that? The focus and pace and energy of the show.

Gale: It’s such a hectic world, and there is so much competition for your attention. One thing you learn from clowning, being in a three ring circus, is that especially in that setting, people are going to look away and then they’re going to come back and look away and come back. So if you can hold their attention with a slower pace maybe, and more depth to what you are doing, they’ll pay more attention to you than somebody else. When some performers for young audience start to lose their audiences attention they have a tendency to escalate their performance by picking up the pace or ramping up the volume. If you escalate things, the kids will respond by taking it up another level. If I find an audience that’s getting a little antsy I have a tendency to work slower. I know that the majority of my audiences are experiencing a silent comedy for the first time, whether they are young or old. In order to understand what is happening on stage they need to pay attention. In order to have that attention you need to entertain them and engage their curiosity and emotional being. Some shows for young audiences try to fill every little gap with something that’s bright and colorful. With Snowflake, I’m trying to fill those moments, those quiet moments, with character and emotions.

Jill: What is your wish at the end of each performance?

Gale: I guess one wish as far as the performance is concerned is that people allow their emotions to guide them a little more in everyday life. When they view a person in the street they might look at them in a different light instead of turning away. Hopefully people reflect back on the show when there issues about homelessness and the environment and try to make a difference in a positive way. The message in the show is we should be a little more compassionate and a little less material―if the audience gets that much out of it, that’s all I really care about.

Jill: What else would you think you would like to share?

Gale: I’ve always though it’s my job to keep this style of performance alive. I’m proud of that. I had someone ask me “what do you want out of being a performer?” I would like to be known as artist and I want to live a life with respect and in kind be treated with respect and in the end to die dignity. OK that might be a little heavy.

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PRESS

“Gale LaJoye’s wordless one man show has a lot to say about humanity.”

Ventura County Star

In his one man comedy, Snowflake, Gale LaJoye portrays a street character that lives in a vacant lot, a catch all for life’s discarded objects. With his hilarious blend if comic genius, slapstick, feats of balance, and tender moments, LaJoye spins a tale of a creative and gentle soul that entertains and gains pleasure from turning simple objects into comic treasures. LaJoye’s mastery of timing, nuance and subtle style warms its way into your heart, causing laughter, tears, and pangs of recognition. A show for all ages, Snowflake never utters a single word, yet speaks volumes about humanity, innocence, and the need we have for each other.

“Snowflake” has earned rave reviews across the globe. “This is the best show you’ll see anywhere,” a Canadian Broadcasting corporation review noted. “This performance is impeccable, it is so effortless and it really is about how the imagination can transform the simplest things into things of wonder.” The Asahi evening news in Japan dubbed it “One of Americas finest.” The Courier Mail in Australia called the performance “astonishing … a theatrical trip well worth taking.” Added the Richmond Times – times Dispatch: “No words are uttered in ‘Snowflake’ … But the sounds of joy are immense.”

The plot finds LaJoye’s character trying to teach a child how to turn sorrow into joy. Along the way, the performer uses the magic of illusion to seemingly float in mid air, breathe life into toys, create imaginative music and even perform the Nutcracker ballet on skis.

Snowflake dramatically explores the universal desires children and adults share throughout life – to make a difference, to be appreciated, to be safe and secure, to live happily, and to share the world with friendly, compassionate and honest families, friends and neighbors. Snowflake is an adult, yet his character is playful, endearing and childlike in nature. Although homeless in the classic sense, Snowflake happily makes his home out of what others discard as useless. Early in the show, Snowflake finds and transforms a doll into a child. This puppet/child learns from Snowflake that with creativity, a “can do” approach, and a sense of humor – you can turn sorrow into joy.

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For generations oral stories and books have helped children overcome feelings of awkwardness, rejection and sorrow. They, like Snowflake, help children and adults appreciate the power of humor and hopefulness. If you would like to link the themes explored in Snowflake with your students in advance of the play, please consider the following reading materials.

The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Anderson Age: 4 – 8 I Can Hear the Sun Patricia Polacco, Joy Peskin (Editor) Age: 4 – 8 The Little Match Girl Hans Christian Anderson Age: 4 - 8 Fly Away Home Ronald Himler (Illustrator), Eve Bunting Age: 4 -8 The Family Under the Bridge Natalie Savage Carlson, Garth Williams (Illustrator) Age: 9 -15 Homeless Bird Gloria Whelan Age: 9 -15 No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa Beverley Naidoo Age: 9 –15

Cultural and lifestyle differences often isolate us from the people we can learn the most from. Snowflake, like the books above, can help youth embrace the unknown and inspire them to safely explore beyond their fear.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Clown Types

The word clown originally meant country bumpkin. Comedic portrayals of oafs in Elizabethan drama give rise to the current definition. Shakespeare wrote many roles for William Kemp and Richard Armin, who specialized in playing these parts.

There are three main types of clowns. The first is the whiteface, derived from the French Pierrot. The circus clowns of the 1800s were mostly this type. Heirs to the medieval jester, they are often sharp witted and satirical.

The second type is the auguste. This is the typical bumbling clown with red nose, outlandish wig and exaggerated makeup. The auguste buffoonery serves as a source of expiration for the whiteface clown.

The third is the character clown, who portrays a specific profession or lifestyle like Carol Burnett’s washer women or the keystone cops, a common subset, the tramp or hobo, appeared after the civil war when many homeless were searching for work. Famous examples include Chaplin’s “Little Tramp,” Red Skeltons’ “Freddy the Freeloader” and circus clowns Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willie” and Otto Griebling.

Weather they use speech or rely on mime alone, all clowns share a simple goal: making people laugh.

Forms of Physical Theatre Movement

In  Snowflake  Gale  LaJoye  uses  techniques  from  many  different  performances  traditions  and  stiles  of  physical  movement:  theatre,  old  time  vaudeville  and  music  hall  shows,  clowning,  pantomime  and  mime.  He  himself  relates  the  work  in  Snowflake  most  closely  with  Charlie  Chaplin’s  silent  film  character,  “The  Little  Tramp,”  Which  also  was  derived  from  the  above  sources.  

Mime

“Mime is external movement motivated by an internal source.”

Gale LaJoye

Charlie Chaplin and Gale LaJoye both draw from the skills and goals of mime. Though most people picture mimes with traditional white face make-up, pressing against imaginary walls and pulling imaginary ropes, the art of mime also encompasses performers who work without make-up, and with actual props. At its most basic, mime is described as acting without words, and that vocal silence allows a new kind of attention. Mime demands the study of a high level of physical

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discipline and precision in order to attain the ultimate in wordless communication, character creation, storytelling, and emotion.

“Silence, that universal grace, how many of us know how to profit of it, perhaps because we cannot buy it … The feast in the heart of natural silence, That silence which never refuses whoever searches for it.”

Charlie Chaplin

Mime throws full light on man alone in an instant of truth.

Marcel Marceau

Golden silence: the art of mime

By Sandi Leibowitz

Before human language developed, people used gesture to express themselves. I early civilizations, mime, along with dance became an integral part of religious ceremonies.

Mimes in ancient Greece performed short, improvised comic scenes of everyday life or political commentary. They acted to musical accompaniment in the streets or introduced plays. Full faced mask helped them create often stereotypical figures known as stock characters.

In the first century B.C. the Romans created a new mime form for the upper classes, performed in theatres or private homes. A solo pantomimist changed masked to play all the parts, while a singer or chorus chanted a drama or love story based on myth. Gesture was considered such an important aid to speech that children of nobility and even emperors studied pantomime.

Medieval traveling jongleurs― forerunners of the court jester―mimed improvised comic scenes as part of a repertoire that included music, juggling, acrobatics, animal acts, and magic.

Mime prospered throughout Renaissance Italy, where it could be readily understood, regardless of a region’s dialect. It reached new heights in commedia dell’ arte with professional troupers who improvised comic plays according to loosely planned scripts. Commedia artist wore masked to portray stock characters such as Arlecchino, the foolish servant; Pantalone, the jealous husbands; Pedrolino, the lazy buffoon; and Colombina, the quick-witted maid.

Commedia troupes traveled throughout Europe, becoming especially popular in France. While the art form declined in the 18 century, mimes― now without masks ―persisted in French theater. Pierrot (French for Pedrolino) succeeded Harlequin (Arlecchino) as the protagonist. In 1811, Pantomimist Jean-Gaspard Deburau transformed Pierrot from a lout into a poetic, melancholy elevated figure. His clearly develop stories elevated mime from slapstick to art.

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Silent movies became the most popular form of entertainment from 1895 through the 1920s. Since film was incapable of synchronizing sound with movement, actors relied on gesture and motion. Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd were masters of physical comedy, while Charlie Chaplin added pathos to slapstick to create art with universal appeal.

In the 1920s Paris, Jacques Copeau trained actors in mime so they could used their bodies more expressively. Student Étienne Decroux considered it a serious art form and opened a school exclusively for mime. His works did not use music, costumes, props, or text. With Jean-Louis Barrault, Decroux created the basic techniques still used today.

Influenced by silent film as well as Barrault, Marcel Marceau developed the modern concept of mime in the 1940s. Using whiteface he popularized mime in solo acts of fluid, stylized movements based on classical exercises. His most famous character was Bip, a misunderstood innocent.

Today many post modern groups, such as Mummenschanz, perform abstract mime, which elements narrative.

Glossary

Attitude ― a frozen pose used by clowns to accentuate an emotion or intention.

Auguste ― a type of circus clown introduced by Tom Belling in Berlin in 1869. The auguste originally wore very little makeup, but now is identified with a flamboyant makeup that includes a red rubber nose and white paint around the eyes and mouth. His character is one of stupidity and clumsiness, and traditionally serves as comic butt for the more elegant and clever whiteface clown.

Bit ― a small piece of a clown gag.

Blow Off — the visual punch line of a clown gag or joke. Some of the most popular are the confetti bucket, the long shirt, or a pants drop.

Boss Clown ― the clown responsible for coordinating both the clowns and the various gags in a show.

Bozo ― bozo the clown is a registered trademark for a specific commercial clown whose image is usually a gross exaggeration of the circus Auguste clown. The word bozo is a pejorative term applied to clowns or stupid people.

Character clown ― a clown who dresses in a character costume, often a tramp, but sometimes a policeman, fireman, etc.

Clown ― a buffoon or jester who is funny, but also vulnerable and tragicomic and typically entertains in the circus. Its etymology has been traced back to colonus and clod, English words meaning a farmer of a rustic, and therefore a clown was originally a country yokel.

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Clown Alley ― the clowns' dressing and prop area, originally an aisle in the circus dressing tent. To become a clown is to join clown alley.

Comedy ― a story, movie or play treating characters and situations in a funny or amusing way.

Commedia dell’arte ― a form of popular comedy that flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. The performances were improvised around familiar plots and relied on acrobatics, mime, and stock characters.

Dialogue ― a conversation in a play between two or more characters.

Gag ― a comic, scene, trick, stunt or prop used in a performance. Many silent film comedies, stage and circus clown routines are structured around gags. They can be done solo, with the ringmaster, with other clowns or with audience volunteers. They have a beginning, middle and end, finishing with a blow-off. Gag may also refer to the specialized or gimmicked props clowns may use.

Gesture ― a movement of the body, hand or arm to express an emotion or intention.

Improvisation ― a performance or scene created on the spur of the moment, not memorized according to a set script.

Joey ― a nick name for a clown, after Joseph Grimaldi (1788-1837), a great British clown who performed exclusively in English Pantomime.

Mime ― 1. actions or gestures without words used as a means of expression (also called pantomime); 2. the person who performs pantomime.

Monologue― a speech by one actor alone on stage. Which often reveals the inner thoughts and feelings of the character that actor is portraying.

Pantomime ― is usually associated with a style of performance that eschews not the only words but props and scenery as well.

Pause― a brief moment of silence between words, sounds, or musical notes. It allows a performer to build a train of thought and allows the audience time to see what that train of thought is. See attitude.

Producing clown ― in American circus, the clown who designs and stars in gags and who builds all the props they require.

Props ― Items used on stage to help create a sense of place, such as a chair or lamppost; objects used by a character or clown on stage and in the circus such as a broom, fan, feather, or sandwich.

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Rodeo clown ― a comic performer in the American rodeo who often wears makeup similar to that of the circus clown. His most essential function is to ensure the safety of the cowboys by distracting the bull after it has thrown the rider.

Scenery ― painted canvas mounted on wooden frames, drops, and cutouts etc., used to represent a place or environment where the action happens.

Script ― the written text detailing what happens, including what is to be said, during a play or performance.

Set ― the arrangement of scenery and props on stage.

Setting ― the place or mood in which a play takes place.

Slapstick comedy ― an exaggerated type of comedy marked by fall, slaps and blows and portend violence; it is the broadest from of comedy.

Solo ― a performance done by a single performer.

Stock character― a fictional type of personality recognizable to or associated with a particular culture, often a stereotype.

Timing ― the ability to choose or the choice of the best moment to do or say something, e.g. in performing music or comedy or in sports. A comedian with an immaculate sense of timing.

Tramp Clown ― (or Hobo clown) a clown who dresses like a tramp and uses flesh colored makeup with high lights of white around the mouth and eyes an unshaven face and redden nose. Tramp clowns have come in many varieties, but usually are more a figure of pathos.

Whiteface Clown ― the elegant partner of the clumsy Auguste clown. Usually the white face clown adds just a touch of red or black to his otherwise completely white face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Resources

Books for Students

• Mime by Kay Hamblin. Doubleday/Dolphin, 1978. • Be a Clown or Clown for Circus & Stage by Mark Stolzenberg

• Mime Time: A Book of Routines and Performance Tips by Jack Feder

• Be A clown! Techniques From a Real Clown, Ron Burgess. Williamson Publishing, 2001.

Books for Teachers

• Clowns by John H Towsen. Hawthorn Books, 1976.

• The Moving Body by Jacques Lecoq. Routledge, 2001.

• Creative Clowning by Bruce Fife, Tony Blanco, Steve Kissell, Ed Harris. Piccadilly Books, 1998.

• The Mime Book by Claude Kipnis, Harper Colophon Book, 1974.

• Videos for Students

• The Best of Chaplin. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, 2008.

• Silent Greats: The Ultimate collection. St Claire entertainment, 2007.

• Great Clowns of Vaudeville. International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center. 2012

Website for Teachers

Clowning:

www.Allaboutclowns.com

www.Clownschool.net

www.theclownmuseum.com

www.jondavison.blogspot.com

www.physicalcomedy.blogspot.com

www.clownlink.com

Homelessness:

www.usich.gov

www.hudhre.info/documents/2010HomelessAssessmentReport.pdf