Colaianni, Louis 1959-

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COLAIANNI, Louis 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born April 29, 1959, in Paterson, NJ; son of James F. (a writer/publisher) and D. Patricia Kelly (an editor) Colaianni. Ethnicity: "Italian/Irish/German." Education: Attended Boston Conservatory of Music, 1977-79; designated Linklater Voice Teacher, 1987. Politics: Democrat. Religion: "Unity School of Practical Christianity."

ADDRESSES:

Office—University of Missouri—Kansas City, Department of Theatre, PAC 404, Kansas City, MO 64110. E-mail—colaiannil@umkc.edu.

CAREER:

University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO, associate professor, 1990—. Presenter at phonetics workshops.

MEMBER:

Screen Actors Guild, Actors' Equity Association, Players Club.

WRITINGS:

The Joy of Phonetics and Accents, Drama Book (New York, NY), 1994.

Shakespeare's Names: A New Pronouncing Dictionary, Drama Book (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Cal Pritner) How to Speak Shakespeare, Santa Monica Press (Santa Monica, CA), 2001.

Associate editor, Voice and Speech Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Bringing Speech to Life, for Drama Publishers; American Shakespeare: Sound and Sense; research on language variation and on the letters of Edwin Booth.

SIDELIGHTS:

Louis Colaianni told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is to instruct. I write text books and references for the theatre. I also have a strong interest in sociolinguistics. I have been influenced by the work of linguists and dialectologists. I was also influenced by my teacher, Kristin Linklater, author of Freeing the Natural Voice and Freeing Shakespeare's Voice. "