Do you remember your first trip to the theater? And by theater, of course, I'm referring to LIVE theater. For many of us, that first ever live theater experience is enough to welcome us into a life devoted to arts and entertainment. My first live theater experience was a musical on Broadway called Shenendoah, starring John Cullum (The Middle, Madam Secretary, Northern Exposure). It truly was a magical experience! Shenendoah helped me discover the power of story-telling through live performance. I've been a voracious theater fan ever since, and one thing I've paid careful attention to is the irrefutable contribution that ACCENTS make to the story-telling process. Accents have the power to welcome us as audience members into brand new regions and cultures throughout the world (and of course the occasional imaginary world)! They're an invaluable tool that help paint the overall picture, and they seem to be EVERYWHERE in live theater... especially in Tony-nominated shows!
The Tony Awards is live theater's biggest celebration and acknowledgment of paramount achievement in live theater. The Tonys is also a wonderful opportunity to discover how many of these celebrated shows feature accents, and what those accents are! Here's a detailed breakdown of this year's nominees that feature accents other than General American being performed by truly talented actors and actresses:
PLAYS:
"The Ferryman" by Jez Butterworth
ACCENT: Northern Ireland
"Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus" by Taylor Mac
ACCENTS: Standard British (RP), Cockney
"Ink" by James Graham
ACCENTS: Standard British (RP), Estuary, Yorkshire, Australian
"Burn This" by Lanford Wilson
ACCENT: New Jersey
"Torch Song" by Harvey Fierstein
ACCENT: New York City
"The Waverly Gallery" by Kenneth Lonergan
ACCENT: Boston
“To Kill A Mockingbird”
ACCENT: Alabama/Southern
“Bernhardt/Hamlet”
ACCENT: Standard British
“King Lear”
ACCENTS: Various British
MUSICALS:
Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"
ACCENT: Oklahoma/Southern
"Beetlejuice"
ACCENTS: Various
"Tootsie"
ACCENTS: Southern, NYC
“The Cher Show”
ACCENT: Midwest, Southern, California