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09/13/07 Last updated

Strange things you can encounter on the world wide web. The photo below for example is one that I found at a website for Paris, France while surfing for mimes. This photo started to haunt me because it looked just like me. I dismissed it at first because I have not been to Paris since I attended Ecole Jacques Le Coq in 1978. I came across it again and checked the write up of who put it there. Lo and behold it was a photo taken in 1978 while the tourist was in Paris. It is a photo of me performing the audience participation sketch of "Romeo and Juliet". I was just a wee naive thing of 21 years. The street experience in Paris was great though. I learned just as much from professional street performers as I did in the school.

Below are some of the comments on the site from the old message board and email inquiries that I have received from around the world and across Canada. This is the truly exciting part of this technology. I have been able to share my ideas with people I would otherwise never have encountered. I have of course substituted last names with last initial and removed email addresses in order to keep them anonymous. You may scroll down or click on a number here to jump to the message.

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17 18

Proud to say your my nephew. We develop software for the internet and are not unqualified in our observations. Well done Stephen. Extremely well done.

Your Uncle Jack in White BC

why didn't you put anything moving or making any sound Mr. Mimeguy?

i love your web page and we are all yery happy with you keep up the good work

love derek

you have a very good web page. it is the best i have seen in a long time

the man in the moon

Looks great. The videos didn't download, and I proved less than patient after 10 minutes of inactivity apiece. So when are you going to invite me up to look at your drawings? Or are you old enough to remember that old line. Seriously, Dee and I enjoyed browsing the site and professional proof reader in me was impressed.

Lisa

Dear Stephen

I've linked your site to NSW secondary schools drama info site because you have a very interesting & useful site. Pass this site on to Toronto teachers http://hsc.csu.edu.au/drama. There might be some ideas there they can use.

You don't happen to know the mad Canuk JJ Crashbang (aka Jean Jacques Plante)?

7a)

My little girl is 8 years old and wants to go as a mime for holloween. The only thing is I can not find any photo's to go by. If you can help I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank You

Walter

7b) Dear Stephen:

My daughter and I cannot thank you enough for the pictures and information you e-mailed to us. Now, with the description you sent of how to do her face, she is very excited, and can't wait until Halloween!! Thank you so much!!

Sincerely,

Walter and Heather W.

8a)

DEAR SIR,

I AM SUAMYA S. WRITING TO YOU FROM INDONESIA. I AM DOING A PROJECT ON "NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN DRAMA" IN WHICH I NEED YOUR HELP. I VIEWED YOUR SITE AND WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY IT. I WAS FINDING IT VERY DIFFICULT TO INCORPORATE THE IMPORTANCE OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN DRAMA OR MIME IN MY PROJECT.

COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS?

MY EMAIL ADDRESSES ARE...

I HAVE TO SUBMIT THIS PROJECT NEXT WEEK. KINDLY TRY TO REPLY TO THIS REQUEST AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.

THANKING YOU,

SUAMYA.

8b)

HELLO STEPHEN,

THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR GREAT HELP. THE STUFF YOU HAVE SEND ME IS VERY HELPFUL AND NOW I FEEL I AM GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH MY PROJECT!

THANKYOU SO MUCH!

SUAMYA

9a)

Dear Mr. La Frenie,

Allow me to briefly introduce myself: My name is Robin J. I am a Resident Director at the Nomad Theatre in Boulder, CO, and received my MFA from U of Louisville, studying movement with James Tompkins, who also received his certificate from Ecole Jacques Le Coq. I am teaching a course on acting "in the moment," focusing on body awareness this weekend, and would like to shamelessly steal some of your ideas from your website, with your permission, of course. If possible, I'd also like to discuss some of the techniques with you. I can call you if there is a convenient time for you, or we can chat by e-mail if you prefer. Hoping this will work for you.

Thanks,

Robin J.

9b)

Hello Stephen,

The exercises worked beautifully - several students commented at the end that the 7 levels and the goodbye on the pier were their favorite parts of the workshop. Many of those new to acting were frustrated by the neutral man/woman exercises, I think, because it was too structured or restrictive for them. Interestingly, the more experienced students found it somewhat freeing, because of the simplicity and economy of it.

Overall, the class was successful, and much fun. Thanks again for your insight and for letting me use you as a resource - I will certainly use the exercises in the future.

Good luck with your new piece - if you like, please let me know how it goes.

10)

Stephen,

I loved your mime/clown Web pages! I just moved to Toronto from Atlantic Canada and would be curious to know where I could find some clown/mime supply stores in Toronto. (striped socks, white gloves, suspenders, bowler/derby hats, etc.) Could you recommend any places?

Best Regards,

Christian

11)

Thanks Mimeguy,

Wanted to let you know what a great resource your web page is. My name is Rhona and I am the current advisor for music, arts and drama ('fondly' known as the MAD lady) for Guides (Girl Scouts) Tasmania in Australia. While I play a couple of instruments and have some history with paint I have my own advisor when it comes to matters of Drama, a sister who studied Drama at tertiary level who only has a basic knowledge base when it comes to mime, and little skill on the internet but great ambition. Wanting to run a street theatre workshop for girls in what we refer to as remote areas she has been researching mime but found very little. I discovered your site tonight and will pass the ideas you have shared on to her. I am sure she will find them a great inspiration and we will include your web page address on any information we hand on to leaders.

The dates we have set for these MADfests are 2nd June and 13th October. If you wish, having found your site such a great help, I would like to share news with you about the success of our workshops.

Once again, Ta very much,

Rhona.

12a)

My name is Julie R. and I live in Brooklyn, NY. I am an actress, and
for the past year I have had the honor of teaching children's theater at
several after school centers. I want to tell you how much I love your
amazing website! I am especially thrilled with the class plans, thank you
so much for sharing your wonderful ideas with those of us who are just
learning how to teach.

This July I will be teaching at a Creative Theatrics day camp for children
in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Each teacher is the "artistic leader"
for one week, and my week is: Physical comedy, clowning, masks (each week ends with performances for the parents). I thought that commedia dell'arte would be a great way of combining these things but I fear that some of the exersises you describe will be too much for them. Also, the program has almost no money so we will probably be making paper plate masks.

I was hoping that if you had the time, you might write back to me with a
suggestion or two about how you would proceed with this. Once again, thank you so much for your incredible website, I'm so glad I found it!

Looking forward to hearing from you, Julie.

12b)

Hi Stephen.... the Commedia week was amazing. The kids really got into it. It seemed that the different age groups really keyed into different aspects of the work:

    The 3rd graders got really into using their bodies for large gestures, and they loved holding poses and setting up tableaus. We played a game that we called "High, Middle, Low" where at least 3 people start moving around together and when the tambourine is hit they have to freeze, each one on a different level, and if two people have chosen to be high, then one of them has to quickly adjust to a different level. For some reason they could not get enough of this game and when played with a large group it's even more fun and you can get some really great looking stage pictures out of it. The 3rd graders also liked the acrobatic elements. They were not so into wearing the masks, and since they were making some really great faces, I let them wear them on their foreheads. I had to choose my battles. The 2nd and 1st grade kids really keyed into the idea of playing the personified qualities like greedy, kind, lazy, etc. They loved the exercise that you suggested of "how does a greedy person move... etc." They really were able to develop wonderful specific characters and although they didn't want to get as BIG as the 3rd graders, I thought that their show was actually the more successful in terms of telling a story in the Commedia style.
     The kindergarten kids loved the masks and wanted to wear them all the time. Until we got to the show. Then, they would have nothing to do with them. They are such a riot. They enjoyed striking poses to the beat of the tambourine while making loud "ha" sounds. Don't ask me why. All of the kids had a lot of fun and so did I. The parents were of course thrilled.
     I cannot thank you enough for your guidance, it was invaluable to me in my preparations for that very memorable and rewarding teaching experience. I hope all is well where you are and I will continue to check out the website.

Julie.

13(a)

Hey. I'm sorry to bother you, but I've spent forever online trying to find a link w/ pictures of mime masks or faces. I am a bank manager and
would like my staff to paint their faces at Halloween as mimes. Something everyone can do and not terrorize poor old people just wanting to
cash a check. Do you have any ideas where I can find a group of pictures that I can print to give them ideas from? Thanks for your help.

~~Wendy

13(b)

Ah Steve....that was perfect and VERY helpful!! I think we'll have a lot of fun with this and hopefully our customers will as well.... Thank you for your time.

Good luck to you. Thanks again.

Wendy

13(c)

Hey Steve! You're too sweet to remember us! Our mime faces went very well, thanks to you! Your information was very helpful. I doubt that we
looked as good as you, but the customers were entertained, to say the very least! :) I am a new manager at this branch and I think the
customers are anxious to see what I have up my sleeve next... Thanks again for all of your help. If you ever bring your show to central Florida, you'll have to let me know. I'll bring my staff and show them the "real" thing.

Wendy

14)

dear mr. mime guy,

My name is Hiram, I live in California, and I am in 11th grade in high school. I am taking a drama class, i'm supposed to do a pantomime but I need some help. I know the basics of movement and exaggerating. the thing is that I'm to have music in the background and do an activity that goes to the music. My teacher performed a pantomime she made herself. she was a doctor doing surgery in an operating room. while she was doing surgery the music was suspense like. when she got done the music was happy sounding. then all of a sudden the music goes really loud and the patient dies....I'm supposed to find music first and then see what activities might go with the sounds. I haven't found good music at all. so here's my question: Can you recommend some music that i could use? and what activity do you think i could do? I will really appreciate any help you can provide me with. I hope to hear from you very soon (since I only have a week left till my performance!!!). thank you.

sincerely, Hiram D.

15)

I found your site by accident as I was looking for suitable material to bring a comedy workshop I've been asked to lead... I started to browse the web and somehow ended up on your site (I think it was via Yahoo). All I can say is, thanks to you I am now inspirated and have awakened the previous lessons I have learned. Let me know if ever you visit England ... PS Have you heard of an (excellent) English Mime artist called Nola Rae? Also, if these sessions kick off, I'll definately be buying your commedia masks!

Yours sincerely
Anne-Teresa , BA (Hons)

16)

Dear Steve,

You have a very nice web site! Many moons ago I studied mime at the Canadian Mime Theatre in Niagara on the Lake with Wayne Pritchett. Do you know of him or his whereabouts these days? Also, do you know those BASEL (Switzerland) masks? If so, do you know WHERE ON
GODS GREEN EARTH I can get (another) one? (Besides SWITZERLAND!?)

Thank you and best of luck to you!

Sincerely,
Karen L.

17a)

Hi Steve,

Your website is wonderful! I came upon it while I was surfing the net in search of a possible answer to a quick question that I was wondering if you might by chance know the answer to: What famous people/celebrities have studied mime? I was having a discussion with a friend of mine, and the only names we could come up with were Jessica
Lange, Laraine Newman, Geoffrey Rush and David Bowie. Do you by some chance know of any others? Best of luck, and very best wishes,

Sandy K.

17b)

Dear Stephen,
I am so grateful for your most thoughtful reply! It's something isn't it -- there is such a wonderful quality to all those talented beings that you mentioned... The art and discipline of mime is truly a magical thing...
Be well, have fun, and I wish you the best of everything...

Sandy

18)

To whom it may concern,

I am a student teacher working at Henry Street High School in a grade 9
and grade 12 drama class. Today I accompanied my classes to a mask workshop held at Sinclair Secondary School. The workshop was performed by Steven LaFrenie. I found the workshop to be extremely helpful in coming up with various ideas for lesson plans for my classes. At the end of the performance, Steven touched upon some of his prior acting experiences including mime, which happened to be a topic that I was teaching to my grade 9's in the afternoon. When class time came, they were inspired and
eager to learn about mime and to move into doing some studies on commedia. My students, as well as myself, found the workshop both informative, educational and entertaining. They were quite impressed with the range of ability of Steven vocally and physically. Another great concept was the direct interaction with the students throughout the presentation. I
think that it helped connect the students to the history involved in masks as well as the "how to" aspect of mask work. Overall, the performance was enjoyable for all who attended and the acting and teaching abilities of Steven
LaFrenie are indeed a credit to all who watch the performance. I hope to see more shows of this nature as I enter into the teaching profession and will continue to support any programs which make learning fun and enjoyable for students. Keep up the excellent work!

Yours,
Corrie Mund. Preservice Teacher at Henry Street High School, Whitby Ont.

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