ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#1ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/12/07 at 11:52pm
I go see Pirate Queen last night and out of the 40 person cast and 20 speaking roles I think only 4 had accents in a HUGE Irish/British show. Stephanie Block didn'tou say ireland it comes out naturally). (except for a few times she said Ireland and you know when you say ireland it comes out naturally) while jeff mccarthy (her father in the show) did...hmm then Marcus chait didn't while his father had a scottish accent..hmm..then hadley fraser had his british accent, but wasn't he suppossed to be Irish? super..its only a hundred dollar ticket to a 16 million dollar musical. no biggie..MORE SETS and special effects will draw your attention away from the crappy accents or lack therof.
Then I saw Legally Blonde last week and while the show is set in boston, Orfeh has the BEST Long Island/Brooklyn accent I have ever heard...oh wait..its set in BOston right? huh..oh well it's only broadway. Its only the "best theater in the USA". don't worry about getting the accent right..just make one up. and yes I know what a boston accent is suppossed to sound like..Been there a bunch. Long a's kids. "pak ya caaah in hahvad yaaad"
I think the only ones to actually get their accents right are the cast from grey gardens. Mr. Cavanaugh is a little nasal for my taste but the rest of the cast nail it. Amazing. One of the cheapest shows with the tiniest budget gets it right while the mega-money shows get it horribly wrong. what should we dooo..oh yea..MORE SETS! Draw the public away from the horrible attention to detail with Delta Nu sweaters, Huge Fire on stage, and a song about ireland that makes no sense whatsoever...
Gimme a break.
Thank GOd for Ms Ebersole and crew.
actor
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/14/06
#2re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/12/07 at 11:55pmIn regards to your Orfeh comment - Did you ever consider the fact that the hairdresser might have come from Long Island/NYC?
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
bella cantato
Broadway Star Joined: 3/16/04
#3re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/12/07 at 11:58pmseriously? get over yourself.
"You know, a little orphan girl once told me that the sun would come out tomorrow. Her adopted father was a powerful billionaire, so I supressed the urge to laugh in her face. But now, by gum, I think she might have been on to something!"
--Reefer Madness
#4re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/12/07 at 11:58pmUh, I don't know if GG classifies as "cheap".
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#5re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:03amjust making sure...are you telling me to "get over myself"? before I retort..just making sure thats directed toward me
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#6re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:05ami think in comparison to the other musicals on bway its cheap. I would feel good in saying that Bee, Q,, GG and Spring are the cheapest musicals on bway.
#7re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:05amArrgh, matey.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Al Dente
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#8re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:48am
Massofmen, I can't talk about PQ and their accents but have you ever spent any time in Boston and/or watched The Departed? Orfeh's accent was spot on, matter of fact I've heard her do a perfect Brooklynese in Fever and Southern in Love, Janis. Her Paulette is just fine. I don't know many people from Brooklyn who say "fawyteen beeahs" and "Haare afaare". But it seems you had to find flaw with something. I second the Arrgh matey. Now, if you had complained about Orfeh shouting the ending to a song in to a wall, we'd have something to validly discuss. Throngs of people are actually bothered by that far more than whether her "aaah's" are perfect Bostonian or not.
Updated On: 4/13/07 at 12:48 AM
#9re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:55am
What a shock.
There could be video footage of Orfeh robbing a bank and Al Dente would still say she didn't do it.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
Al Dente
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#10re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 12:58amYou're right Munk and there'd you'd be claiming to have shot the footage. Have you seen Legally blonde? I did and I'm from the east coast and Orfeh, as I've said 10,000 times on this board, needs no defense from me but nonsense is nonsense and should be corrected.
#11re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:01am
I haven't seen LEGALLY BLONDE yet, not am I saying anything about her accent.
You keep saying that Orfeh doesn't need any defending, but you ALWAYS (as if on cue), swipe down from the skies and defend her.
You can't attempt to sqash someone's opinion with your own. It's not as if she said that Orfeh was born in Iceland. That is a fact and it can be proven. Saying that someone's accent is off is not a fact that can be proven. I'm sure you know this.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
Al Dente
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#12re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:07am
I'm not Munk but massofmen was really in a lather and unnecessarily so. There are far bigger problems to be talking about with regards to Legally Blonde as a whole and I'm sure PQ. Accents or lackthereof are hardly the glaring problems in either case. And I'm one of maybe a handful of people who's always supported Orfeh on this board. I've got nothing on the legion of IdinasuttonshoEdenchenobutlerpetersmurphyziemba fans that will go ballistic if someone dare utter an unkind word. Al, swooping away.
Updated On: 4/13/07 at 01:07 AM
#13re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:10am
The freakish Idina fans have nothing to do with your tireless obsession with Orfeh. Now, I don't care who you love - it's just the constant defending that is so odd.
I mean, one time, I merely asked the board what performance of Orfeh's had made you all fall in love with her so (because there are MANY vocal people about her) and I was attacked for being a hater - when really, I just asked a question.
I think accents are a pretty big problem. I'm sure it's a bigger problem in PQ than in LB. For one, there's nothing that says that Orfeh's character HAD to have been born and raised in Boston. For massofmen to not realize that is assinine.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
Jilani
Broadway Star Joined: 6/30/05
#14re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:21amI haven't seen Pirate Queen, but I'm wondering why they need to have Irish accents. In reality, the characters wouldn't be speaking to each other in English; they'd be speaking Gaelic. I know this issue has been previously discussed on these boards. The analogy that was made is that the actors in Les Mis don't speak English with French accents to indicate French - so why should the people in Pirate Queen speak English with Irish accents to indicate Gaelic?
Al Dente
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#15re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:21amI can hardly remember what I had for breakfast Munk so I don't know what you're talking about but after all as usual, we agree in a roundabout way. And to clarify, there is nothing "odd", I'm as vehement in my defense about all of my women which I do remember pointing out in the past as well. It only seems to "enrage" you when it's about Orfeh. now I'm sure we've jacked this thread enough so if there's anything left to say, let's take it to PM.
etoile
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/2/03
#16re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 2:11amI always enjoy it when Al Dente swoops into any thread, and she does champion other performers than just Orfeh.
Rest in peace, Iflitifloat.
Smartful Dodger
Featured Actor Joined: 3/23/05
#17re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 8:17amDavid Hyde Pierce's Boston accent in CURTAINS is pretty solid, consistent throughout -- even when he sings. Very impressive.
ShbrtAlley44
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/03
#18re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 10:27am
I agree, Dodger. He did a good job.
This thread made me laugh because I just saw The Rose Tattoo in London, and Susannah Fielding, who plays Rosa, has the most outrageously awful accent I've ever heard anyone do. It's this meld of Southern and Italian, and it's ridiculous.
ruprecht
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/05
#19re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 10:34amWho cares? Does anyone in Lez Miz speak with a french accent? Does anyone in Hairspray do a Baltimore regional accent?Christian Borle specifically says "I grew up in the Roxbury Slums" and he has no accent at all. Again, who cares? I'm with Al as he rightly pointed out the "shouting into a wall" thing being seriously more disturbing where Orfeh is concerned. Her accent is fine and this is a pointless thread. Ruprecht swooping in AND out.
queenbee2
Featured Actor Joined: 7/13/06
#20re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 10:40am
in regards to Pirate Queen, the last time I saw it I was completely impressed with the subtlety of the dialects used by Hadley, Stephanie and Marcus (Hadley almost completely hid his native British sound- almost). They were all quite consistent without being completely over the top with it. But I was somewhat thrown that Jeff McCarthy didn't even seem to attempt the dialect. Even though I am an admitted fan of the show (and Jeff), this did bother me some.
-QB
#21re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 10:55amJust wanted to say that the accents in LOVEMUSIK last night were flawless. Murphy and Cerveris were excellent.
#22re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:12pm
Uh, guys? No such thing as a British accent. I'm sure you're aware there are strong regional variations, even on such a little bitty set of islands, so uh... no such thing as just a British accent. :P
elphaba.scares.me
Broadway Star Joined: 10/23/04
#23re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:20pm
Well, if we're going to get that far into it...
My understanding is that there's also no such thing as a "British accent" because British speaking style is actually a DIALECT of English.
An ACCENT is the pronunciation of English, for example, when the speaker's first language is something else. A French person would have an accent when speaking English; An Irish person (whose first language was English) would speak with an Irish DIALECT.
So as far as I know, it's actually improper to refer to Boston/ Southern/New York/British/etc etc etc as "accents".
Just my drama geek two cents.
worrell4077
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/04
#24re: ACCENTS: are people trained anymore?
Posted: 4/13/07 at 1:58pm
"I think the only ones to actually get their accents right are the cast from grey gardens."
Christian and JLY have very good Jersey accents in Jersey Boys.
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