Accents/ dialects on Broadway- Page 2

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 8:26am

Just to be clear I haven't seen the show yet and was basing my opinion on the cast recording.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 8:26am

Speaking of Irish and "pa-tay-tahs," I'll never forget Rosie O'Donnell's Yiddish brogue in Fiddler. What an absolute hoot.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 8:35pm

"i remember seeing Hairspray in London, and finding it weird hearing some of the cast with English accents, event though the show takes place in Baltimore."

Please, I was bothered by Marissa Jaret Winokur singing "Good morning BAAALTTTTimore!" A native would pronounce it Boldimore.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 8:46pm

^but that would sound like Good Morning Voldemort. Not to mention that no one pronounces it that way in any John Waters movie, let alone in a song in a musical based on one.

Updated On: 5/6/14 at 08:46 PM

[veronicamae]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 8:53pm

The fact that "British" accents are so frequently used in Les Mis - most notably the recent movie - drives me CRAZY. Did that happen because some of the actors used were indeed from the UK and they couldn't be bothered to use French?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 9:49pm

"Not to mention that no one pronounces it that way in any John Waters movie"

Well then, I'll let the city know they all have to change their pronunciation based on what you've seen in movies. Do you expect all of the UK to use Oxford English as well?

As a MD native, BAALTTimore always stuck out to me as wrong. I don't expect Hairspray productions to actually use it, but to me, it's just as grating (albeit less offensive) as "Olé!" from Puerto Ricans in West Side Story.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 11:13pm

The reasons French accents aren't used in Les MIs is because it is performed in English and all the characters are French. The same reason productions of Cyrano or The Misanthrope or Gigi in English aren't performed in French accents (unless of course you can get people like Caron, Chevalier and Jourdan, then they would sound French because they are French).



Updated On: 5/7/14 at 11:13 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/6/14 at 11:15pm

Oui!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/7/14 at 3:40pm

The only time one is likely to hear HAMLET with Danish accents is when it is performed in Danish.