Two-person comedy will feature Lou Pallotta and Melinda Pallotta
WOODLAND — Love Street Playhouse will open its 2018 season with a celebration of love for all the valentines in your life.
The public is invited to join in to celebrate the start of the 11th season for the playhouse with Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam and Eve, a poignant comedy about the very “first love” starring Love Street’s owners and producers, Melinda and Lou Pallotta. Show dates are Feb. 9–18. Tickets are $20 online at www.lovestreetplayhouse.com.
The Diaries is a portrait of two very unusual people, those first ‘lovers’ who meet under the most unlikely circumstances, that first garden, and what they make together over a lifetime. It is a portrait of a love that somehow survives, a love that prevails. This remarkable love is an enduring story, one that somehow transcends the fragile yearnings of romance, the immediacy of transient desire, the inevitable disappointments and misunderstandings inherent in any relationship, even death itself.
It may have been Eden for a while but in the end, they had to figure out how to make it work. Audiences will laugh, cry, sing and realize, you are not alone. It was the original Battle of the Sexes with the endearing and enduring discovery of love at the heart of it all.
Mark Twain wrote the diaries in two parts: the first, “The Diary of Adam,” was written during the 1890s. Twain was 25 years old. It was written at a time when his own fortunes had begun to fail; and during the beginning of the failure of the health of his wife, Olivia. “The Diary of Eve” was written almost 15 years later. Twain was 70 years old. It was written shortly after the death of his beloved, Livy, and at this point in his life, Twain had outlived three of his four children.
Both Melinda and Lou Pallotta have worked on the Love Street stage as well as behind the scenes. This will be the second time the couple will perform together.
“We are thrilled to kick off the new season in this two-person comedy. We looked at several scripts before choosing this one. Lou’s portrayal of Adam shows wit and great comic timing as the first man,” said Melinda.
“And Melinda’s grace on stage,” said Lou, “fused with a creative energy to ‘know all things’ infuses this comedy with laughs and heart. When the new creature with the long hair arrives Adam’s perfect garden gets overhauled. Eve takes on naming all the animals and never stops talking. It’s not the Eden we’ve read about although there are certainly threads of the Genesis writings in this play.”
Love Street Playhouse now enters its 11th year as a producer of high quality theater as well as a summer Youth Theatre Program for aspiring young actors.
“The production values in this warm and inviting community theatre are amazing,” said Lou. “I fell in love the moment I entered the theatre. Melinda is the hardest working and most organized artistic director that I have ever met and it shows in the quality of each performance.”
Melinda holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from Seattle Pacific University with fine arts training from Illinois State University where she had the opportunity to work with visiting artist, Uta Hagen back in the 1980s. One of Melinda’s favorite experiences was starring as Annie Sullivan in “The Miracle Worker” in Portland.
“Owning a theatre was always a dream of mine. Even as far back as my teen years,’’ Melinda said. “And now, entering our 11th year at Love Street Playhouse, I realize how fortunate I am to not only be living my dream but also getting to share that experience with my husband, Lou.”
Lou is well known in the Vancouver and Portland theater world as an award-winning actor, producer and playwright. His Dead Husband productions, “Who Stole My Dead Husband?” and “Why Can’t You Stay Dead?” are Portland’s longest-running, interactive, musical comedy theater shows, playing for more than seven years. Lou has graced many stages in his career including four shows with the Oregon Symphony and working with Broadway director Patti D’Beck. He won a Bay area award for his portrayal of Harry the Horse in “Guys & Dolls” at the San Jose Civic Light Opera.
Love Street Playhouse 2018 Season includes The Diaries of Adam and Eve, directed by Bethany Pithan who is now the resident production manager at Love Street Playhouse; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!, a musical comedy directed by Bethany Pithan; Robin Hood, directed by Melissa and David Bareford; Over the River and Through the Woods, directed by Melinda Pallotta and The Farndale Ave. Christmas Carol directed by Bethany Pithan.
Season ticket holders and business sponsors at Love Street receive discounted tickets and the opportunity to choose their seats before tickets go on sale to the general public.
Love Street Playhouse is located at 126 Loves Avenue in Woodland. Local business sponsors and advertisers contributing to the Love Street Playhouse include the Port of Woodland, Woodland Truck Line, Lou Pallotta of Chianti Club Productions, S & V Tax Service in Longview, Business Cents NW, Inc. in Vancouver, Columbia River Carbonates in Woodland, Maple Ridge BnB operated by Tim and Lee Welch of Woodland, Lelooska Foundation, Erica Rodman of Woodland Real Estate, Holland America Flowers, Sproos, and Last Frontier Casino in La Center.
