Theater company to hold opening night of Moon Over Buffalo this week at Love Street Playhouse, a small theater company that is thriving in Woodland thanks to the labor of love from owners Melinda and Lou Pallotta

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Melinda and Lou Pallotta did not know each other until 2015.

To hear them tell their stories, though, clearly they were destined to meet.

Their love for theater turned into a love for each other.

Today, they run Love Street Playhouse in Woodland.

It was Melinda who started the business in 2007, building the small community theater into something a little bigger and better every year.

Melinda and Lou got married in 2016, and together they have renovated the stage, upgraded the seats, and expanded the facility.

This week, Love Street Playhouse will open its production of the comedy Moon Over Buffalo.

It is one of several productions performed each year at the theater — located on a residential avenue in Woodland.

“This just seemed like a great space to convert into a theater,” Melinda said, recalling when she bought an old church on Loves Avenue. “I always wanted my own theater. This became it.”

She acknowledged the location is not ideal. The street is only three or four blocks long. A lot of people, she said, don’t even know Loves Avenue is a street in Woodland.

But the playhouse has a passionate group of supporters — theater-goers and sponsors. 

“It just was a good structure, with good bones that could be gutted and converted. Little theaters often start out as old church buildings,” Melinda said. 

There is, after all, already a space for the pastor and choir. And pews for the congregation.

Now, there is a stage for the actors and seats for the ticket holders.

Plus, in 2018, Melinda and Lou started making big changes, including a renovated stage, dressing room, and seating for guests.

“We did things to make it not a theater in a church but now a theater,” Lou said. “It has paid dividends. If you build it, they will come. If you build it for the audience, and you build it for the actors, we’ll get better actors, we’ll get more actors, and we’ll get bigger audiences. That has really worked out. It’s just been miraculous.”

Even before the renovations, before Lou met Melinda, he saw something magical at Love Street Playhouse. A colleague of Lou’s was acting at Love Street and invited him to watch a performance … and meet Melinda. The friend thought they would hit it off.

“We did,” Melinda said.

That first performance for Lou was special.

“When I came here, I was just wowed by the intimacy, the beauty of it, … how much energy goes into the shows,” he said.

Melinda grew up on a farm in Illinois. Lou grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in an Italian family. Both had a love for theater.

Melinda ended up in college in Seattle, then moved to Portland. 

Lou had a great job as a businessman in New York, but he wanted more in life. A series of moves brought him to Portland. He wrote the successful The Dead Husband Series, a play with a cult-like following that ran in Portland for years. He found five acres in Ridgefield, and he was home.

“It became paradise to me, and I never wanted to leave,” he said.

Melinda and Lou’s positive energy is contagious.

David Roberts, an actor in the production of Moon Over Buffalo, has performed at Love Street Playhouse for almost a decade.

“It’s the people,” he said. “They are warm and encouraging to everyone.”

Sharon Mann, also in Moon Over Buffalo, used to work on the Dead Husbands with Lou. He invited her to Love Street, which has allowed her to continue with her passion.

“Why do you live?,” Mann asked. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do my whole life, and I started (performing) when I was 10.”

Lou Pallotta said the theater is a labor of love. He appreciates that everyone is a volunteer. The actors get gas money, but it is not a paid gig. 

“It’s a community service of high regard,” Lou said. “When you are around people who put in so much effort to serve, it’s a great feeling. We tell stories. We tell beautiful stories. We tell them in a way that makes people’s hearts beat as one in one space. They laugh together. They cry together.”

For Melinda, the journey is more important than the destination. She loves the process. There is a vision. The work. Then there is the production. The end. And then it starts all over again with the next show. Love Street Playhouse looks to offer a variety of genres, from serious dramas, to comedies, to historical pieces. 

“There is a beautiful arc that happens every single time,” Melinda said. “Creating art is … it’s food for my soul.”

Note: Moon Over Buffalo opens Friday, April 25. It runs through May 18, mostly on weekends. Some shows are already sold out, and there are a limited number of tickets available for the rest of the run. For ticket information, go to: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?actions=4&p=1