Theresa Caputo tells us what to expect from her Pittsburgh visit

PITTSBURGH – If you've driven past Rivers Casino lately, you've noticed the huge electronic billboard touting the Feb. 3-4 appearances by Theresa Caputo.

"That's something that still freaks me out even though I've been touring for more than 10 years," Caputo said. "To see my face on a billboard is just crazy."

When that Feb. 4 show sold out, the North Shore casino quickly added the second and earlier date for TV's famed "The Long Island Medium," who will share personal stories about her life and deliver healing messages to audience members, giving people comfort that their loved ones who died are still with them.

Caputo's Pittsburgh appearances will be similar to her hit TLC Channel reality show, "except I won't be doing any shopping," she said with a laugh. "I may be trying to steal your food, but there won't be any shopping.

"All kidding aside, it's just like watching 'Long Island Medium.' I come out on the stage. I give a quick speech to the audience because maybe somebody there hasn't seen the show before and tell them maybe what they can expect over the next two hours or hour-and-a-half. Once I start sensing and feeling Spirit I come off the stage. I don't stay on the stage the entire night. I allow the souls of the departed to guide me around the theater. I will stop in front of someone and just start channeling healing messages from their departed loved one."

Caputo claims she's seen, felt, and sensed spirits since she was 4 years old, but it was not until reaching her 20s she learned to communicate with souls in Heaven. She says her abilities initially caused her debilitating anxiety, which she tried managing on her own and with therapy. But then her mom introduced her to a spiritual healer, who surmised Caputo was suppressing spirit energy, prompting her to learn to channel that energy through her chakras (energy centers of the body.)

It made for great TV, realized TLC, which from 2011-19 aired "The Long Island Medium," chronicling Caputo's life as a medium and otherwise typical mother from Hicksville, N.Y. With her big hairstyle, bold nails, Long Island accent, and sweet disposition, Caputo quickly became a celebrity and ultimately a best-selling author.

People pay to see her in person, hoping she can connect them fleetingly with a deceased loved one, or at least bolster a deeper belief in an afterlife.

"I wish I could tell you something magical happens. It just happens. I can't explain it," Caputo said in a Jan. 12 phone interview. "All of a sudden I will just start sensing a feeling thing that means nothing to me, but a life-changing thing to a person standing in front of me. So, what happens is I'll first see like a shadow or silhouette. And then Spirit (which her website spells with a capital "S") will make me feel the emotional bond that the person shared with them. So, I might say to someone 'Who is the father that's departed?' And then they can say, 'Oh, it was my dad' or 'it was my grandfather' or could be their father-in-law or an uncle who was like a father to them. Then the soul will actually bring me through their departure. They will make me feel what they felt when they left the physical world. Then a soul will show me the finer symbol of the burden or guilt that the person is carrying, or anything negative that the person is struggling with, acknowledge to help them release it so they can heal. And that's why I do what I do."

As "Long Island Medium" fans know, the look of closure on someone's face who has undergone a Caputo experience is emotional and heartwarming.

"I think it gives them permission to heal, and permission to enjoy their life with as much happiness as they can," she said.

A full-stage video display will ensure everyone in her Rivers Casino audience gets an up-close view of the facial expressions of anyone randomly chosen for a reading.

Caputo believes "all of us have that amazing ability" that she has. "I want everyone to know they still have that connection with their loved one who has died. That is a bond that can never be broken. There are things that go on around you where you might say, 'Oh that's odd," or 'that's weird' or 'that's a coincidence' but it reminds you of your loved one who has died. Know that that is them. I think they're little hellos from heaven."

Caputo said she can't turn off her gift. It's not like pressing "mute" on your phone. Messages can come at any time.

That gift has given her ample reason to speculate on what a heaven might look like.

"From what Spirit has shown me is that we are greeted by our loved ones who died before us," Caputo said.

Yikes, it's not like our deceased elders are watching and judging us on a big screen TV, is it?

"The men always ask that, and I tell them your life might not be that interesting where they need to peek in at every little thing, like when you're in the bedroom or the shower," Caputo said with a laugh.

Are our beloved pets in heaven?

"Mm-hm. I've had pets come through," Caputo said, recalling the unique instance, before "Long Island Medium," when she got a reading from a deceased squirrel that was the cherished pet of a brother and sister she met.

"And the brother was a total skeptic. He did not believe at all, and I understand," Caputo said, adding that when she mentioned to him about getting a reading from what she thought was a ferret named Stevie (the squirrel's name) "I thought he was going to fall off the chair. I interpreted it as a ferret because I didn't know people had pet squirrels."

Caputo knows there are countless skeptics who don't believe she can channel the dead.

She doesn't take that personally.

"Absolutely not. Listen, this has nothing to do with me believe it or not. This has to do with spirits using my physical body as a vessel. I'm just crazy enough to repeat these things the Spirit has me say that mean nothing to me but are life-changing to someone else.

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"And the other thing, and I'm not trying to be rude by any means, but I don't care if people do. That's not why I do what I do. I don't predict the future, I'm not giving people direction in their life. I'm bringing people healing messages so they can make their own free will choices with faith and peace and comfort knowing their loved ones are still with them and supporting their life decisions. It's not about believing in what I do, I want people to believe in themselves. I want them to believe in the signs and symbols to things they're feeling and to know that's real, and to believe in an afterlife.

"People say it all the time after attending one of my shows: They'll say 'I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the theater, I didn't personally get read, but what I witnessed was absolutely life-changing."

The feeling, healing and potential life-changing is set for Rivers Casino's Event Center. Tickets remain for the Feb. 3 show, costing $39-$99, at riverscasino.com

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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Theresa Caputo looks to bring healing to Pittsburgh audiences