What accent does Belle normally have, I know its set in france but the characters generally all differ like lumiere and babette are french, cogsworth is upper class english etc.

Do english productions have english belles? Im confused, mostly because I automatically do it american because of the disney film, then realise thats really strange :S

Hmm, last time I saw a non-professional performance of Beauty and the Beast (by the academy I attend, though I was not member at this stage) she had an American accent, but the girl happens to be Anglo-American so that's how she speaks normally.

...yeah, that wasn't helpful at all...

I personally would just go for whatever accent you'd be most comfortable using in the role. It's better to act convincingly than employ an accent for the sake of appearing convincing and find it proves awkward.

Wait...there are people with Southern English, French and North American-sounding accents? Is this show set in Canada during colonial times or something?

No, It's set in the provincial countryside of France...not really sure of the time period, but I know that the original story is REALLY old.

I'm doing my normal accent but - I don't really know how to explain it, more proper. Kind of. I thought it would be American, like the movie, Broadway show etc. But they didn't want it to be a complete copy of the Disney version and not put on an American accent when we're not even in America.

I don't like to sound ill-mannered, but I was clearly joking...

It's a bit of a Wicked scenario. When it transfered to London the accents changed too.

Lumiere and Babette are always French. Cogsworth and Mrs Potts are always English and Gaston is always American. Not sure about Madame because it'e been a while since I heard the OBC. Maybe someone else can advise?

Belle and the Beast (and Lefou actually) seem to change depending on the country it's being staged in. The London recording has them all doing English accents rather than American like on the OBC. It made sense that the OBC would have it this way because it's a Disney film. Generally speaking, the only time you get a British accent in a Disney film is when there's a baddie to be voiced.

Overall, I think it depends on the production and the director but I would have them all as above with the two leads in English dialect. Because England is, afterall, closer to France. Mwahahaha.

I know that when I audition, I'm going to ask the director beforehand how he's playing it. They will usually already know exactly what accent they want for what part.... if they're a thorough director that is.

I know that this is late but I hope it's useful nonetheless.

I'm really stuck now.

I'd quite like to do english, and that's what i've been doing in rehearsals so far but i'm scared that since most of the people i have scenes with are are doing with american I'll sound out of place, Especially with Maurice as you'd think father and daughter would have the same accent even if we were different from the rest of the cast.

When I asked the director she wasnt particularly helpful, she just said english but if everyone else is doing american I could. The rest of the cast dont seem bothered enough by it to ask, and the director doesn't seem to notice it (it's glaringly obvious and annoys me no end so I don't know how) so we've never been officially told what we're expected to do.

at the minute I think it's Gaston, Maurice, The Beast and Chip are american, Mrs Potts, Madame DLGB and Cogsworth are English ( a bit more proper than our normal Northern), Lumiere is French and Lefou and Babette are basically speaking as normal.

What do you guys think I should go with? I'm fairly good at both accents so it's no real trouble

I would go with a "normal" american accent. If she would have any accent it would be French, however if she did that it would be kinda stupid.

How would it be stupid? Belle lives in France.

I once saw a video of Belle singing "Home" in a very good production of BatB. She sounded like she had an English accent, rather than American. o3o I couldn't tell if it was her real accent, though. I guess that means Belle is either American or doesn't change her accent in most productions.

The only two that have French accents originally are Lumiere and Babs. A lot of productions of BatB that I've seen so far have Babettes with no French accent, because I guess they think that since she doesn't say much in the movie, people won't remember she has the accent, or people might think she's well-known enough to have an accent in the production. It really depends on whether the actress chooses not to, or simply can't change their accent.

...Which leads me to that Belle is usually played by an American actress, at least as far as I know. And that just makes the whole accent thing more convenient for those actresses.

In my school's production, Babette, Lumiere, and Madame all had French accents. In the Disney movie, Babette did have a slight French accent, but it probably wasn't too noticeable, since, she was in about two scenes in that. Most productions have Madame's accent be whatever the actress' natural accent is. In most persons' opinions, she didn't have a French or British accent, and in my opinion, she sounded a little bit like she was from the American South. But my drama teachers said they wanted her to be French.

Cogsworth and Potts were English. Everyone else had Boston accents simply because that's where we live.

In my opinion, Belle shouldn't have an accent different from the one the actress naturally speaks in. She is French after all, but I've never heard of a Belle with a French accent before.

Hmm... I've never heard of a Madame with a French accent before. That must have made the show pretty unique. :3

I always thought she -sorta- had an English accent. But I could never really tell. o.o;

The Cogsworth in our show is trying to use an English accnet, but I think he's having some trouble with it.

Also, in "Belle", in the recording on the CD, the baker sounds American, but specifically pronounces "Marie!" with a French accent, almost.