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MARQUETTE -- NMU alumnus Gale LaJoye uses slapstick humor to tell the sad and true story of a Marquette man named Snowflake.

"He was just a local fixture, and everyone knew him," explained LaJoye, creator and star of the play, Snowflake.  "A lot of us had closer experiences than other people did with him, but he was a character, by some people, misunderstood."

A former clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, LaJoye effortlessly expresses the loneliness and despair Snowflake feels about his dire situation with just props and body language.

"I really got involved in silent films," LaJoye said.  "I liked Charlie Chaplin, but the one that I was a lot closer to was a Buster Keaton-style.  So I wanted to try something a little more meaningful, a little more pathos, a little more heartfelt."

And that he does as Snowflake is able to take joy out of the little things in life; a message, LaJoye believes, still rings true after almost 20 years on the stage and touring across five continents.

"Now, with the economic times and the situation people are facing, it has a whole new meaning.  I mean, it's always had this meaning, but there's a whole new importance to that meaning," LaJoye replied.

Snowflake is in Marquette for two days only.  This show, which is appropriate for all ages, will be performed at Kaufman Auditorium this Saturday, December 27 at 7:30 p.m. and this Sunday, December 28 at 2 p.m.