BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Western New Yorker is bringing his life story back to his hometown in a one-man show.
Meet Patrick Gallo, a Buffalo-born and raised actor who is coming back to the Queen City to star in his own show. Named “How to Be an Artist in 10 Super Easy Steps,” the show takes you through Gallo's life, highlighting the good, the bad, and the funny.
“This show was a collection of stories that happened in the first 25 years of my life," said Gallo.
Gallo has had a long career on the big screen, featured in TV shows, movies, and with big names. He was in shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Offer, and movies like The Irishman.
He said working with Hollywood stars was a highlight of his career.
“Working with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino, three people that were on my the top of my bucket list,” said Gallo.
Gallo also starred in “When They See Us,” a Netflix mini-series about the Central Park Five. As Detective Taglioni, Gallo worked with Emmy-nominated actors Michael K. Williams and John Leguizamo as well as Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Director Ava DuVernay.
He said working with these names is a gift of his acting career.
“There are wonderful rewards to it, but the greatest is when you work with people that you have admired, people that have inspired you to commit your life to being an actor and to creating things, and they're just like you,” he said.
Despite being on the big screen for parts of his career, Gallo said supporting live theatre is also important.
“We're inundated with social media, but the real stuff is out there. When you're standing in front of a great painting, or watching someone perform on a stage, going to a great film, that's just power," he said.
What’s next for Gallo?
“I'm about to hang a mural. I also do some work with other artists in the city and Max Collins, who's a great artist and a great muralist,” he said. “Finding old historic images that reflect a moment of love between two people, a real pure moment, an unconscious moment of love. This first one is of my parents.”
After years away from Buffalo, Gallo said he is coming back.
“I'm really right at this moment, just intoxicated with the city. Where I left off, I ran out of this city when I was almost 19. And I feel like this commitment we made to stay. All those things that I loved, that kind of got snipped short because I had to take off, and I had to start my life somewhere else,” he said.
“I'm very swept up in the romance of this city and the trees and the architecture and the landscape and the people.”