IDEA
Paul is the founder and director of IDEA (International Dialects of English Archive), the world’s first online archive of English-language dialects and foreign-language accents for theatre and film artists, which goes hand-in-hand with his work through Paul Meier Dialect Services. IDEA catalogues by continent, country, and state or province, approximately 1,700 streaming recordings of native speakers who both read and converse in their natural accent or dialect of English. Listen to Cockney, Liverpool, Welsh, Scottish, New York, Australian, French, German, Russian, Newcastle, Hampshire, Received Pronunciation, American English — accents and dialects from all over the world. Around one hundred senior editors and associate editors from around the world contribute to the archive. Among the various resources can be found an invaluable tool: authentic speakers discussing and pronouncing the names, terms, and idioms needed in well-known and frequently produced plays. For example, hear Professor Maia Kipp, a native Russian and Chekhov scholar, speaking the place and people names from all of Chekhov’s major plays. (See IDEA’s Special Collections.)
VASTA
In addition, Paul is a proud member of VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association), serving from 2000-2007 as Associate Editor for Pedagogy and Coaching for the Voice and Speech Review, a scholarly journal for voice and speech professionals and academics, editing and authoring articles about voice, speech, dialect, and heightened text coaching and teaching. Click here for the volumes in which Paul’s articles appear.
He was editor for the VASTA newsletter from 2001 to 2003.
Paul receiving the Voice and Speech Trainers Association Outstanding Service Award from VASTA
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
Articles in Newsletters
“IDEA Celebrates a Century,” VASTA Newsletter, Vol.14, No. 1 (Winter 2000), 4-5.
“Dialect Coaching for the Movies: A Theater Veteran on his First Film Gig,” VASTA Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Fall 1998), 8-9.
Chapters in Books
“Early Modern English: Pronunciation and OP on the Modern Stage” in The Cambridge Shakespeare Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Shakespeare’s World. Smith, Bruce, R., editor. Cambridge University Press, 2011 (in press).
“To Glottalize or Not to Glottalize,”in The Voice and Speech Exercise Book, Rodgers, Janet, editor, Applause Books, New York, 2002.
“King of Infinite Space: Richardson’s Hamlet (1969),” in Tibbetts, John C. and James M. Welsh, eds., The Cinema of Tony Richardson. Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 1999, 177-187.
“Pronunciation and OP on the Modern Stage,” in Smith, Bruce R. The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare. New York, New York, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Internet Publications and Presentations
Weekly blogs, video lessons, and podcasts for Global English, an English Instruction Company delivering English instructional services online to Fortune 500 companies globally. I was the top-ranked instructor for them from 2008 to 2012.
Online demonstration of International Phonetic Alphabet. Interactive Flash animation charts, with recorded sounds. With Eric Armstrong, York University, Toronto. Also as an interactive CD-ROM and as an iTunes app.
Journal Articles
“In 1595, ‘Prove’ Rhymed with ‘Love.’” American Theatre, February, 2011.
“Tremor into Action.” An interview with Catherine Fitzmaurice. American Theatre, January 2010.
“The Actor’s Ecology: Integrating Voice and Movement.” Co-authored with Lesley Bennett. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Voice and Speech Trainers, 2009.
“Training the Trainers” Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Applause Books and Voice and Speech Trainers, 2007.
“Towards a New Sacred Theatre,” The Quest, Spring 1993, 74-84.
“American Buffalo: Designing Away the Barriers,” Theatre Insights, Vol. 2, No. 2, (Fall 1990), 22-24.
Journal Editing
Founding associate editor of Voice and Speech Review, a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the performer’s voice. Associate Editor for Pedagogy and Coaching. 22 articles for the 2007 issue; 12 articles for the 2005 issue; nine for the 2003 issue; seven for the 2001 issue; and articles for the 2000 issue.
Peer-reviewed Journal
“Kenneth Branagh: With Utter Clarity,” The Drama Review, Vol. 41, No.2 (Summer 1997), 82-89.
Peer-reviewed Serial Monographs
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Original Pronunciation Production: Two Interviews with David Crystal,” Knight, Dudley, ed., A World of Voice: Voice and Speech Across Culture. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Voice and Speech Trainers Association, 2011, 209-223.
“R and its Articulation,” with Eric Armstrong, Mandy Rees, ed., Shakespeare Around the Globe: and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Voice and Speech Trainers Association, 2005, 237-250.
“Interviews with Three Film and Television Coaches,” Dal Vera, Rocco, ed., Film, Broadcast and e-Media Coaching; and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Applause Books and Voice and Speech Trainers, 2003, 57-71.
“Vocal Clarity in the Outdoor Theatre,” co-authored with Kate Foy, Dal Vera, Rocco, ed., The Voice in Violence: and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Applause Books and Voice and Speech Trainers, 2001, 210-222.
“Structure and Substance in Shakespeare’s Verse,” Dal Vera, Rocco, ed., Standard Speech and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training. Presented by the Voice and Speech Review. New York: Applause Books and Voice and Speech Trainers, 2000, 209-218.
Scholarly Papers and Presentations
“Acting in Dialect: the Cross-Cultural Challenge.” Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) conference, Glasgow, Scotland, August, 2005.
Presentation on IDEA, part of a panel on “Technology in Speech/Dialect Training — Three Approaches.” American Theatre in Higher Education annual meeting in Chicago IL, August, 2001. (not refereed, not published).
Multi-media lecture/demonstration of International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) at the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) conference, Washington, D.C., August, 2000.
“Non-Traditional Casting and the Politics of Transformation in Taming of the Shrew.” Mid-America Theatre Conference, Des Moines IA, spring 1990.
Research of “Acoustic Correlates of Emotional States.” Presentation by Professor John Michel of Speech, Language and Hearing, University of Kansas, Symposium on the Performer’s Voice, June, 1990.
Textbooks
Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen, published and distributed through Paul Meier Dialect Services, 2001. Currently adopted as a textbook at theatre departments throughout the US, Britain, and Australia.
Dialects of the British Isles, published and distributed through Paul Meier Dialect Services, LC, 2002.
Voicing Shakespeare, an eBook with embedded video and audio files, distributed through Paul Meier Dialect Services, LC, 2008.
