"Groucho"
Directed by Michael La Rocco |
| This motley crew has come to my character, Dr. Judith Spence, Freudian psychoanalyst, for help. This point-of-view shot shows them all looking to me for the solution to their problems. The woman in the center, Tina, played by Tina D'Elia, who stars and co-wrote the script with director Michael La Rocco, is disturbed. She's anxious, she's nervous, she's perturbed. She has a split personality. | |
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In response, I offer comforting words, such as "You're crazy!," and "You are institutionalizable." And that's a mouthful. I got permission from Director Michael La Rocco to exercise my German accent. What self-respecting Freudian psychoanalyst wouldn't use a German accent, German or not? I struck terror in the hearts and minds of my patient, her parents and grandparents in this session. Sanity through fear and intimidation. |
Acting is a lonely profession. Not really -- just a moment of contemplation on the set. While others take a break, I feel my space. So, Tina D'Elia has been working on her one woman stage production for a couple of years. It's about a Lesbian in San Francisco who is afraid to "come out" to her family. The pressure turns her into Groucho Marx, her childhood idol. Her family has not yet recognized that she is gay, though all the indications were there (e.g., as a child, she idolized Superwoman), but are willing to get to the bottom of her odd behavior through therapy. |
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This was only a 5 minute scene that D'Elia/La Rocco Productions used as a marketing tool to find backers. From top left: director-co-script writer-co-editor-co-producer Michael La Rocco, grandpa-Joe Bellan, Dr. Spence-me-Bonnie Steiger; second row: Dad-Ed Vasgersian, Mom-Barbara Van Dermeer (a bit low), Tina/Groucho-Tina D'Elia, Grandma-Vilma Vitanza. Not pictured: cinematographer Dan Schmeltzer and editor Josh Churchill. Groucho has shown at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay
Film Festival, San Francisco, on June 26, 2004, to a packed house of enthusiasts. |