DELETTA GILLESPIE

... is a performing artist, playwright, and educator with over twenty years in the entertainment industry.

Gillespie was born into a show business family: both her parents played in bands that backed nationally known artists including The Ink Spots and the Shirelles. She made her professional debut at age six in her mother’s nightclub act.

Deletta has performed in a myriad of situations and venues as a singer, dancer and actor. Highlights include performing for Michael Jackson, and opening for Al Jarreau and Patti Austin. Her vocal talents encompass radio, television, and voice over work. As an entertainment coordinator, Gillespie booked talent for Destination Dockyard, a seasonal street festival jointly produced by The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, RF Communications, and Royal Caribbean International.

What a Girl Wants (produced by Healing Stage Productions), which raised over $15,000 for the Women's Resource Center in Bermuda. In October 2007, Atlanta-based theatre company Alternate Roots invited Gillespie to perform a staged reading of The Magic City Massacre during the Creative Convergence Festival. “The Magic City Massacre” premiered at Towson University in January of 2009, and enjoyed a successful run.  “The Magic City Massacre” has been performed at several venues in the metro Baltimore area.

Deletta is proud to have originated the role of Chloe for the play 7:32, written by KT Peterson and directed by David Gregory. The show was nominated for National Playwriting Award, and was the Winner of Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Music Theater Award(Book) 2009.

Deletta is a full-time Theatre Arts faculty member at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. She also teaches acting and voice privately, and has taught music and drama in arts camps and educational institutions in the US and abroad. She is also an acting coach at John Casablancas-Baltimore, and she teaches, acting, voice, and music theatre privately

She has vocal pedagogy certifications (Somatic Voicework^TM, The LoVetri Method, Levels I & II) in Contemporary Commercial Music, as well as ABRSM certificates in Vocal Music.

She holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Goddard College, and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Towson University.