Dialect/Accent Reduction Coach

DIALECT/ACCENT REDUCTION COACH

JOHN M. RUSTAN, PhD

707-763-7773 or 707-536-6276 (cell)

More than 30 years experience coaching and teaching actors in foreign and American regional dialects, Elevated Stage Speech, and Accent Reduction.

A Sampling of Recent productions include:

Twelfth Night (Elevated Stage Speech)

Murder’s in the Heir (German)

Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime (British/German)

Beauty and the Beast – (French, British)

Female Odd Couple (Castilian Spanish)

Spamalot (British RP and regional)

Electricidad (Accent Reduction)

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge (British RP, Hispanic, Dutch, Cockney)

South Pacific (French)

Master Harold . . . and the Boys (South African)

The Attempted Murder of Peggy Sweetwater (British RP, Irish)

Shakespeare in Hollywood (Brooklyn, German, TransAtlantic)

The Beard of Avon (British RP and Midlands)

The Baltimore Waltz (French, German, Dutch)

The Emperor’s New Clothes (Brooklyn)

The Importance of Being Earnest (British RP)

James and the Giant Peach (British RP and Cockney)

Driving Miss Daisy (Southern – Atlanta)

Sherlock’s Last Case (British RP, Yorkshire, Irish)

Alice in Wonderland (British RP, Cockney)

Brighton Beach Memoirs (Brooklyn Jewish)

Speaking in Tongues (Australian)

My Fair Lady (British RP and Cockney)

Our Country's Good (Scots, Irish, British RP, Cockney, French/Malagassy)

Translations (Northern Irish, British RP, Gaelic pronunciation)

Vinegar Tom (British West Countries)

Crimes of the Heart (Southern - Mississippi)

The Secret Garden (British RP, Cockney, Yorkshire)

You Never Can Tell (British RP)

The Learned Ladies (Elevated Stage Speech) ACTF Award for Vocal Work

You Can’t Take It With You (Irish)

Pride and Prejudice (British RP and regional)

A full listing is available on

Dialect Workshops:

Cinnabar Theater – 1/2 day workshop on dialect acquisition, Jully 2002, July 2003

“Acquiring Dialects for Production” Northwest Drama Conference 1999

“Approaches to Dialects in Production” Northwest Drama Conference 1995

Teaching Experience:

Santa Rosa Junior College – Director, Beginning Acting, Intermediate Acting, Film, Acting in Film, Television and Voice-over (2002-present)

Napa Valley College – Beginning Acting, Intermediate Acting, Survey and Appreciation of Theatre (2002-2007)

Gonzaga University – Beginning, Intermediate Acting. Voice and Dialects, Auditions, Styles Acting, Acting in Film, Television and Voice-over, Theatre History, Introduction to Theatre, Directing for the Stage, Advanced Directing. (1996-1999)

University of Oregon: Beginning, Intermediate Acting. Auditions (1993-1996)

Western Oregon University – Voice and Articulation (1995)

Education:

PhD – Theatre Arts -- University of Oregon, Eugene Oregon

MA and BA – Theatre Arts/Speech -- Occidental College, Los Angeles

OTHER TRAINING

VASTA/ATME Voice and Movement Intensive/Conference (1997)

VASTA Voice Intensive/Conference - Master teachers: Patsy Rodenburg, Jeanette Nelson, Kelly McEvenue (1995) Vocal production with Patsy Rodenburg, Jeanette Nelson (National Theatre London) – Dialects, and Kelly McEvenue (Alexander)

Workshop: “Pre-Rehearsal Text Explorations, Based on Lessac Training.” Arthur Lessac and others. ATHE (1997)

Voice-over – San Francisco – Susan McCollom VOICEMEDIA – Characterization for CD/Animation (2002).

Voice-over – Los Angeles -- Kat Lehman (Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced classes), Norman Bernard - Private advanced instruction.

Voice-over Master Class ATHE: Patrick Fraley/Kathy Deveka -- Animation (1994)

Voice-over Master Class ATHE: Patrick Fraley /Kathy Deveka -- Commercial (1995)

SAMPLING OF DIALECT/VOCAL PRODUCTION COACHING

Master Harold and the Boys, Oakland Public Theatre, 2003 – English South African,

Black South African

My Fair Lady, Napa Valley College, 2003 – Cockney, Standard British RP

Half-Day Dialect Workshop, Cinnabar Theater, Summer, 2002 – Scots, Southern

Long Days Journey Into Night – Hillbarn Theatre, 2001 – Irish (County Cork)

Twelfth Night, Gonzaga University, 1998 – Classical Stage Speech

The Learned Ladies, Gonzaga University, 1997 – Classical Stage Speech

(ACTF Award for Vocal Work)

The Real Inspector Hound, Gonzaga University, 1997 – British RP

Crimes of the Heart, Gonzaga University, 1997 – Southern American (Mississippi).

Six Degrees of Separation, Bowling Green State University, 1997 – English South

African and New York

The Secret Garden, Spokane Civic Theatre, 1996 –British RP and Yorkshire

Our Country’s Good, University of Oregon, 1996 - British RP, Cockney, West Countries (Devonshire),

Irish (Dublin), Scots, French/Malagasy

Vinegar Tom, Oregon State University, 1996 - Standard British, West Countries

Translations, University of Oregon, 1995 - Northern Irish, Standard British

The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, University of Oregon, 1995 - Southern American (Mississippi)

Woman in Mind, University of Oregon, 1994 - Standard British

A Christmas Carol, Inland Valley Rep, 1991 - Standard British

Marisol, University of Oregon, 1995

You Never Can Tell, Occidental College Summer Theatre, 1984 Standard British

Talley’s Folly – Occidental College – German Yiddish 1980.

(I have done numerous dialects while acting in productions)

RECENT PRIVATE DIALECT/ACCENT REDUCTION INSTRUCTION

British Accent Reduction – Sept-Oct. 2002

Russian Accent Reduction – October 2002

Southern – Crimes of the Heart -- 2002

French – July 2003

Southern -- Suddenly Last Summer understudy at Berkely Rep. Feb - 2002

Brazilian (Portugese) Accent Reduction – April 2003

French Accent Reduction – Mar – July 2003