OT - How can you get a NY accent?

[judiaci]

This is probably a pretty strange question for a doll board, but there are so many creative and knowledgeable people here! My son is trying out for Guys and Dolls at his high school. He has the singing down, but he is not sure exactly how a NY accent sounds. Can anyone recommend any TV shows and/or DVDs etc. to watch/listen to help hear the right accent - not the exaggerated type.

[Skittl1321]

Well, first, based on my family who are from different boroughs of New York, and very close in New Jersey- that "exaggerated type" accent very well could be real.

My suggestion would be to make a trip to AGPNY. Your son can sit outside and listen to people talk, and you can shop.

Oh wait. Real suggestions.

I don't watch any TV that I can think of, but have you thought about renting Guys and Dolls? That might help. The only downside is there are a few directors who don't like actors to watch previous versions because they don't want their actors to base their characters on the other version instead of the directors instruction.

Oh I just asked my mom from NY- she said "Rescue Me" "Law and Order" (Jesse Martin, not the white haired dectetive)

But the accent is going to be very different depending on which part of New York you want- Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx all have different accents.

Not sure if that helps- except to say the exaggerated ones are an okay place to start.

[rolloverrover]

Welcome Back Kotter.

[judiaci]

I think the trip to AGPNY sounds like the perfect solution. [img]wink.gif[/img]

He watched the DVD. It is with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. It is set in the 1940s and they are gambler types from what I understand. There's a lot of singing and dancing on the DVD and he was looking for something with more dialogue so he wanted to check out some TV shows or movies with the NY accent. Thanks for the suggestions.

[cowgirlsue]

I was involved with theatre as a hobby before I had children. The best example of an exaggerated accent for the New York area that I found when I took a dialogue class was...All in the Family! I'd find myself channeling Edith Bunker, and it really worked!

[jerseycow6]

NEWSIES!!!!! [img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 26, 2006 10:04 PM: Message edited by: jerseycow6 ]</font>

[DScully717]

The original law and order with Jerry Orbach (I think he sounded like a New Yorker) or a couple of the characters on Without a Trace, namely Jack and Vivian, esp. OH, and Tony Danza.

[judiaci]

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions!!!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[tiktokism]

See, I see a lot of those as exaggerated accents.

Part of the glory of Guys and Dolls is that it's all supposed to be slightly larger than life, though. So an overexaggerated accent is totally okay.

Taking into account the time period of G&D, a NY accent basically requires the following:
"er" sounds become "oi" sounds, and vice versa - goil and erl, not girl and oil.
Vowels are often slightly stretched or distorted. Coffee becomes cawffee, walk becomes wauhk (awkward, yes, but that's how it is). Hawk - hoawk, dog - doawgh.
Rs get rounded off into "uh" i.e. water - woautuh. This is usually at the end of words, but it happens in the middle too.

Everybody Loves Raymond has a few decent ny/li accents. Old gangster movies have the same sort of put-on NY accent that goes into G&D. I personally would NOT use Tony Danza as an example... his acccent is definitely not appropriate for G&D.

[cowgirlsue]

I got distracted when I posted earlier and didn't write all that I meant to. I wanted to say that I think it can be very helpful when you are first learning an accent for theatre to *do* an exaggerated version. Doing so helps you catch on to the specific inflections and qualities. You can always tone it down later (and should, unless you want to sound like Fran Dresher, LOL). But I wouldn't be afraid to let him lay it on thick when he's practicing. Let him listen to himself on a tape recorder, too. Do kids today still have tape recorders? [img]eek.gif[/img]