EDUCATION: Dialects

Seattle

Ellen Taft, ADVS (206) 323-6983

Ellen holds the Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama, London.  She lived in the U.K. for three years ( Yorkshire, London and Bristol-the West Country) and in Germany for four years.  She speaks German fluently, French semi-fluently and some Spanish, and has directed American actors in Spanish & German language Plays. As an actor, she has performed in French and Spanish language plays, as well as in plays with accents.  She has been married to an Englishman for 33 years.

E:mail:  actorshandbook@etaft.net

www.StageAccentsAndDialectSpecialist.com

 

Ellen teaches:

R.P or Received Pronunciation -Standard British English

Skinner speech or Standard American English

Regional Accents of England, Scotland and Ireland

American Accents-Southern, New York etc.

European Accents- German, French, Spanish, etc.

www.StageAccentsAndDialectSpecialist.com

Brennan Murphy, (206) 853-9168

A graduate of the Yale School of Drama (MFA in Acting) and the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, U.K. where he obtained the postgraduate Degree-Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies (ADVS),
Brennan Murphy was the Head of Voice and Speech for the MFA and BFA program at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He has vocal directed countless stage productions, coaching actors on both voice and accent in relation to character. Brennan has also taught accent/dialect classes at Freehold Theatre Lab. In addition he organized and taught American accent workshops in Australia and accent coached productions at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and has done extensive work in the accents of Europe and the British Isles.

E-mail:  voicebox@yahoo.com

Gin Hammond (646) 283-8033

Gin holda an MFA in acting from The American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre.  In Seattle, Gin has worked as a voice and dialect coach for Book-It, Stone Soup and Annex, Capitol Hill Arts Center.

www. Ginhammond.com

Kate Forster (206) 235-0659

Kate is a master of accents and is a busy dialect coach in Seattle.  She has an MA in Linguistics with a special concentration in phonetics and phonology (the sounds of human languages).  She teaches any and all accents requested, and has even created a few.  She has a flair for research and authenticity.  She regularly dialect coaches at Seattle Public Theatre, Taproot Theatre, ArtsWest and other theatres in Seattle.

kate@dialectmatters.com

www.dialectmatters.com

Michael J. Loggins (206) 819-2476

A graduate of London's Academy of Music and Drama, Michael J. Loggins has taught dialects and voice for over 25 years. ( see acting coaches)

Adrienne MacIain (425) 313-8937

Ms. MacIanin holds a Ph.D. in Dramatic Arts from UC Santa Barbara and has a BA in French.  She has taught voice and dialects at Northwest Actor's Studio and is bilingual French/English

Orla McGovern

A native of southern Ireland, Ms. McGovern, an actor, polishes Irish and Brish accents.

findyourlight@yahoo.com

Portland

Mary McDonald-Lewis (206) 295-4997

Mary McDonald-Lewis has worked in Los Angeles and Portland, OR, as a voice talent, dialects coach and voice-over coach, for 30 years.  In L.A., she has worked on Hollywood Films and for television.  In Portland, she has worked at Center Stage and for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.  She has an MFA from the University of Portland.  To contact Ms. McDonald-Lewis, please email her at:  Mary@marymac.com

www.marymac.com

 

Dialect Materials

www. ku.edu/idea

IDEA: International dialects of English Archive was created in 1997 as a repository of primary source recordings for actors and other artists in the performing arts, sponsored by the Department of Theatre and Film at the Unviersity of Kansas in Lawrence KS, USA.  All recordings are of native speakers.

www.UseMyAccent.com

UseMyAccent.com will commission an actor who will record a short script in the accent of any specific region in preparation for an audition.   Native speakers of the accent are used to make the recording. 

Seattle Public Library

The downtown branch of the Seattle Public Library has a large selection of recorded books, plays and folk music, which can be useful for finding dialect material.