RIDGEFIELD RESIDENT Lou Pallotta and wife Candi, pictured here, were married in 1992. Together, the two produced an Italian dinner theater production that had a successful six-year run in Portland, closing in 2010. Candi passed away earlier this year, but Lou is bringing back the play Who Stole My Dead Husband? for three weekends beginning May 17 and then launching the sequel Sept. 13.
About 2,500 years ago – 2,000 years before Shakespeare – Western theater was born in Athens, Greece. All the actors were male and all played multiple roles, so they wore masks to signal a change in character or mood.
There were essentially two types of theater at that time, tragedy and comedy. As a result, there were masks that represented each, one expressing laughter and another with tears. Today, the two masks are still commonly used as the symbols of theater.
Long-time Ridgefield resident Lou Pallotta has virtually spent the majority of his adult life as a performer, so on stage, he has portrayed both comedy and tragedy many times. However, those experiences are nothing compared to the wide range of emotions he has recently experienced in his own life.
“It’s been a challenge,’’ said the 62-year-old Pallotta. “I’m moving one foot forward every day, making sure I don’t whither and die on the vine.’’
Pallotta grew up in Brooklyn, NY in a close-knit Italian family and in a neighborhood that was influenced by immigrants from around the world. The environment and the people helped to create the perfect storm for creative writing and storytelling.
Pallotta used that perfect storm to create an interactive Italian musical comedy dinner theater experience called Who Stole My Dead Husband? Pallotta wrote the play and then acted, directed and produced it during a wildly-successful six-year run (2004-2010) in Portland.
Even though he was the inspiration for Who Stole My Dead Husband? Pallotta was far from a one-man traveling band. His second family, a troupe of area performers that he masterfully meshed together, deserve a great deal of the credit as did Pallotta’s wife Candi, who served as the box office manager.
“Candi was everything, starting with the spirit of the show,’’ Pallotta said. “She was the inspiration for everything. She was the box office manager, she sewed costumes and handled props. She was the host at the door. When people came, she was the first person people would ask for when they came to the door. She was the spirit for everyone. Everybody loved Candi.’’
Pallotta’s Who Stole My Dead Husband? is returning to Madison’s Grill in Portland for six shows, the first of which will be Fri., May 17. And in September, the sequel – Why Can’t You Stay Dead? will debut.
The return of the original, and then the sequel, will not include the unforgettable performances of Jimmy Caputo, who played both Jimmy and Momma in Who Stole My Dead Husband? Caputo passed away about two years ago.
“Jimmy was one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met,’’ Pallotta said. “He was one of the funniest guys in the history of Portland dinner theater.’’
As tragic as the loss of Pallotta’s good friend was, it was just the first of two, emotionally-crippling blows for the Ridgefield resident and New York native. One Jan. 1, 2013, Pallotta lost the love of his life, his wife Candi.
“The most difficult thing for me is to wake up every day and put one foot forward,’’ Pallotta said. “Candi was the love of my life.’’
The night Pallota met Candi is permanently etched in his brain.
“I was with two other women that night and as soon as Candi walked through the door, I excused myself from the women I was with and said, ‘I have to go. That’s her,’ ’’ Pallotta said. “When she walked in the room, a light shined on her and there was no light there. The music went off. All I could see was this woman who I knew would be mine.’’
It was 1992, and three months later, Lou and Candi were married. They first lived in the Sherwood neighborhood in Vancouver before moving to Ridgefield in 1994, where Lou still resides.
In addition to performing, Pallotta has also worked as the telecommunications manager with the Portland Trail Blazers for the past 11 and 1/2 years.
Pallotta receives support from family members, including brother Bob and his wife Paula, who live in Felida. His infectious personality has also helped to amass a legion of friends, who along with the rest of his family offer him support each day. He also has his African Grey Parrot Kirby, who Candi received as a gift from her sister.
“Now, it’s just me and Kirby,’’ Pallotta said, smiling through the pain of his tremendous loss. “I make sure I take time to take care of him every day.’’
And, as best he can, he takes time to take care of himself each day as well, that’s why he’s moving forward with plans to bring back Who Stole My Dead Husband? and its sequel, Why Can’t You Stay Dead?
“To honor Candi and to honor Jimmy – to honor them both I do this,’’ Pallotta said. “I will take my guidance from my spirit wife, who has been a part of my life even since she’s been gone. One of the things I know she always wanted for me is to keep doing theater because of what it meant to me.
“I just don’t know what life’s going to hold and where it’s going to take me, but I do know in these two shows, I will do everything I can feel to honor Candi and Jimmy. Before, it was all about telling my story. This time, it’s about it being a tribute to my friend and my wife. In my character, in my blood, I can feel it. In my heart, I can feel it.’’
