The Rita Hayworth of This Generation

Tina D’Elia –local actor, playwright, and screenwriter is honored to be part of the NQAF 2010! Recently she starred in “I Use to Write on Walls” and co-starred on the NBC drama “Trauma”. Her recent show: The Rita Hayworth of this Generation is one-woman-show, weaving several characters in scenes, a solo monologues, musical dance numbers, being homage to Rita Hayworth and old Hollywood noir. The protagonist, a queer mix-race Latina, Tina, blends the cinematic influences of Hayworth’s characters and co-stars from her mind to the stage. Tina faces her issues of Love and Fantasy through the life of her icon.

Written and Performed by Tina D’Elia

Creative Team: Katie Rubin, Amal Kouttab, Oscar Trujillo, Storm Miguel Florez, and Joe Landini

Biography

Tina D’Elia is an accomplished actor, writer, director, and social activist. D’Elia is perhaps best known on stage for her play, Groucho: a Day in the D’Elia Soup, which premiered in Boston in 1998. In 2004 D’Elia adapted the play into a successful short film with director Michael La Rocco which she also starred in. In 2009 D’Elia penned the acclaimed short film Lucha with director Maria Breaux. The film was awarded the Best Short Film Award at the Frameline International Film Festival in 2009 and was later nominated for the prestigious Iris Award. D’Elia’s stage and film credits include both starring and supporting roles in such diverse work as The Pursuit of Happyness, Mercy Man, Healing Sex, Mechanic’s Daydream, Motherlands, and Groucho: a Queer Loca directed by Mary Guzmán. Most recently D’Elia made her stage directorial debut in Meliza Bañales, One Bad Year. The play premiered to favorable notices at the National Queer Arts Festival in 2009. In addition to her work as an actor and director D’Elia is also a successful writer of fiction and prose. Her work has been published in numerous publication including Sojourner: the Women’s Forum, Our Bodies Ourselves (1998), conMOCIÓN (1995), Best Lesbian Erotica 2004 (Lambda Award winner) and 50 Ways to Support Lesbian and Gay Equality (2005). D’Elia is also well known for her work as a community and political activist in both Boston and San Francisco. She was the recipient of the Ollin Civil Rights Award from Instituto Familiar de La Raza in San Francisco in 2006.