Lack of English accents in Sweeney Todd - WTF? — Page 4

Wonkit -- But there's no such thing as "neutral" or "non-accented". Your backstory would only make sense if he was in the penal colony with a whole bunch of Americans and/or Canadians.

Also, qolbinau is from Australia, so he probably knows about it being a penal colony.

Let us not forget the irish accent Len used many time on Murder She Wrote.

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Thanks ChiChi! I had no idea. It's not a full-out brogue, but it suggests to me that he could indeed have done an effective British accent of one kind or another as Sweeney, had he been called upon to do so.



It's at about 6:15 here.

Updated On: 8/23/12 at 08:30 PM

As an Englishman, I couldn't resist commenting...sorry...!

First of all, to those who use the phrase, there is no such thing as "a British accent". The United Kingdom is comprised of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A Glaswegian accent is just as British as standard RP, but obviously wildly different. A pedantic point maybe, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

Secondly, I don't know *what* Angela Lansbury was doing in Sweeney Todd, but it wasn't cockney and it wasn't English and I've always found it incredibly distracting, regardless of the otherwise great turn she did in the role. Her counterpart in the (ill-fated) London production of the Hal Prince original, Sheila Hancock, sounds absolutely right in the role (of course it helps given her background). But to me Lansbury's accent in Sweeney Todd is as bizarre and alien as LuPone's is. Neither of them exist anywhere in the world and are unique to those two performers.

Thirdly, completely agree Ashley Brown was absolutely terrible with her attempted accent in Poppins. I *would* describe it as appalling. It's one of the two main reasons I decided not to see the production on Broadway (the other being the show's sad watering down to become safe, family-friendly and more familiar to audiences expecting the Disney film), even though I loved the show in London.

Finally, I do think it's important for actors to be able to handle accents. It's as basic a skill as say, singing or dancing. OK, maybe not quite so fundamental, but almost. It's pretty standard for actors on this side of the pond to be able to emulate American accents to a reasonable degree; I don't know why the reverse can't be the case on Broadway. True it helps that every other country is so saturated by American culture that American English is everyone's second language here (whereas few in the US are fluent in British English) and thus feigning American accents is virtually second nature to many (although not all) British actors, but regardless, I think it's important.

Updated On: 8/23/12 at 08:51 PM

Well, if we're going to be pedantic, then the correct question would be "Why didn't Len Carious use some British accent?" Not "a", since the reference is to plural possibilities.

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Thanks for the "home town" perspective, Scorpion. As I wrote above, I've worked with Angela and, among other things, she is a superb technician. I'm sure she can do authentic Cockney if she chooses.

But with patter songs such as "Worst Pies in London" would an American audience understand her with an authentic Cockney accent? I doubt it. The lyrics are tough enough to hear with her modified version.

Knowing the team involved (some personally, some by reputation), I suspect very specific decisions were made as to just how far to go with accents for American ears.

I just accept a deliberate non-accent as a convention. We know they're in London. The piece isn't realistic and Prince didn't stage it realistically. Angela's accent was a sort of shorthand for lower-class, a pidgin Cockney almost. If anything, the accent work and lack thereof heightened the Brechtian elements of the musical.

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I'll grant you that "an English accent" isn't technically incorrect. How about we split the difference and just add a letter, sparrman?

"Why didn't Len Cariou use an(y) English accent?" would be more precise and therefore better phrasing.

(ETA Confidential to Robbie: Joey is a couple of years younger than I. He may not appreciate being lumped in with an old geezer such as myself.)

As Lotte Lenya once sang,

"When you're as old as I--
Is anyone as old as I?--
What difference does it make?
And offer come? You take!"

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ChiChi, I'm not an expert on dialects. But I did see Len Cariou in APPLAUSE and in other shows since SWEENEY. He's doing something different as Todd, even if it isn't a technically correct East End accent.

Wow...I like how you came to the conclusion! My plan is to put the cast recording for Sweeney on my phone and pay close attention tomorrow.

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The role of Mrs. Lovett is written in a broad "music hall" style (as opposd to simply "cockney") not used by the other characters in the play, at least until she dramatically shifts gears late in Act 2. The role is less "As Long As He Needs Me" ("Not While I'm Around"), and more "Oom Pah, Pah" ("Worst Pies In London").

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Updated On: 8/23/12 at 11:25 PM

It is a bit narrow minded. Perhaps if it read

"If an actor can't do an accent, they shouldn't do a show if accents will be required."

Not that an accent is necessarily required of course.

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Updated On: 8/23/12 at 11:35 PM