bio
The passionately eclectic Gioia De Cari is an actress, playwright, classical singer and “recovering mathematician.” She began her performance career in experimental opera while a teaching fellow in mathematical logic at Harvard. Since then, she has played numerous leading acting roles in theater, commercials and films, including the multi-award-winning film Lower East Side Stories, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Slamdance, and many festivals in the United States and internationally.
Gioia’s first solo play, The 9th Envelope, which she wrote and performed, received a rave in OOBR: “De Cari commanded the stage with energy, poise and range.” Her second solo, Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through MIT’s Male Math Maze, an autobiographical story of her past life as a mathematician, was awarded a Puffin Foundation grant. Truth Values premiered in the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2009, winning a FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award and enthusiastic reviews: “[FOUR STARS] . . . De Cari . . . inhabits no fewer than 30 roles with gusto” (TimeOut New York); “Funny and insightful . . . replete with hilarious characters . . . The story is riveting . . . go see this show!” (CurtainUp). Truth Values received its regional premiere in September 2009, on the mainstage of the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA.
Gioia has studied acting with the legendary teacher and solo show director Wynn Handman, with whom she did extensive development of Truth Values. She has also studied playwriting with Milan Stitt of Carnegie Mellon. After graduating summa cum laude from UC Berkeley, she earned a master of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An accomplished singer as well, Gioia released her debut album, Quiet Songs, with her husband, classical guitarist John Olson, in 2006. They have toured throughout the United States. Gioia is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and The Dramatists Guild of America.
See clips of her film and commercial roles
Listen to samples of Quiet Songs
For further information about Gioia’s music, visit olsondecariduo.com
Photo by tanziephoto.com