[New Jersey] Local kids learn about poverty

From The Home News Tribune

Mime teaches compassion at State Theatre

By JOAN HRITZ

NEW BRUNSWICK — A home doesn't have to be a house or apartment and a family can be more than just human beings.

These were among the messages imparted by mime Gale LaJoye yesterday as he presented his "Snowflake" show to 1,100 school children at the State Theatre. "My show is about the value of a human being," he said. "It's about how vulnerable we all are" rather than just being a portrait of homelessness.

LaJoye based the title character of the play on a eccentric but kind and decent street character known by LaJoye in his hometown of Marquette, Mich.

LaJoye, who had been a clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, designed and built the set for the one-hour show.

His wordless, very physical show uses the magic of illusion as he floats in midair, breathes life into toys, plays badminton and dances on skis, using whatever materials are on hand. His audience of youngsters from area school districts roared with laughter at the actor's many antics.

The 55-year-old LaJoye's "Snowflake" lives in a vacant lot that is the frequent target of trash heaved over a dilapidated fence. He uses the front section of a car as a clothing storage area and then covers it with blanket and pillows as it becomes his bed. He pulls objects from boxes, including a marionette that he treats with great tenderness and eventually tucks into the bed.

The action all takes place under a large sign which, somewhat ironically, reads "Protect Your Home, Security Home Life Insurance."

The young audience included children from New Brunswick, Edison, Montgomery, East Brunswick, Elizabeth, Westfield and Staten Island.

One group came to the theater from New Brunswick's nearby Roosevelt School. Accompanied by speech teacher Janet Obzut, the children walked "493 steps to a different world" often for their first exposure to the theater, she said.

"I like everything about the show," said Yojana Rodriguez, 7, a second-grader at Roosevelt School. "I think he was saying how it feels to be poor" and "how it feels to be lonely," she said.

Yojana said she had observed homeless people in Englishtown when "they were asking my mom for money. That made me feel so sad."

"I think it's interesting," she said of miming, because "people can learn how not to say anything but show it with their bodies."

Jerry Rojas, a 6-year-old first-grader, liked it best "when the man used his imagination."

Michael Posos, who turns 7 next week, liked that mimes "act so funny without talking."

Six-year-old Kyhier Wilson said he enjoyed the part when "the man was blowing feathers out of his mouth. He was trying to say that it was snowing."

LaJoye finds satisfaction in presenting a show without words.

"They're looking at every movement," he said of his audience.