Stuff Theatre People Like: Well Executed Accents

When I'm not working on a show, I sometimes find it hard to muse up topics for my blog posst. However, in thinking about Kenny's blog post about "theatre people" I realized that there are things that "theatre people" appreciate differently that than non-theatre people. I'm reclaiming the phrase theatre people to categorize those in the industry: actors, directors, producers, etc. And while pondering this I came up with an idea for a recurring blog installment: Stuff Theatre People Like. (It's not quite as classy as stuffwhitepeoplelike.com but that's okay, those guys have been blogging for years. Haha.) Basically, when I find something I thing a particular branch of the theatre people tree would enjoy, I'll post it up here.

The first installment is for actors - it's about ACCENTS.

I'm going to level with you -- I'm terrible at accents. I took a course on dialects when I studied in London and I never really got the hang of any of them. (I'm also probably a bad actor when I tell you that I still don't fully understand the difference between an accent and a dialect.) We tried Scottish, Irish, High Status British, and Cockney. I really don't have an ear for them. I wish I did. (For the sake of The Town, I wish Blake Lively did too, but that's another story.) Having the ability to transition through different accents would help when it comes to my marketability. Even though I don't have that ability, I'm still interested in watching other actors handle the issue with ease.

I submit for your viewing pleasure, an episode of The Good Guys, a show that starts Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. The show takes place is Dallas and in most episodes Bradley Whitford convincingly pulls off his Texan accent (at least I think so, but I've never been to Texas). HOWEVER, in this episode, he tries an Italian mobster accent on top of his Texan one. It's phenomenal to watch. Especially if you've seen him in other things (aka The West Wing) where he sports a New Englander's dialect. Anyways, watch it, enjoy it, respond to it.

As a THEATRE PERSON, Erika recommends Silvio's Way, Episode 1.8 of The Good Guys which airs on Friday nights at 9 pm on FOX and can also be found on hulu.com.