Dorothy Uris' "To Sing in English" is an invaluable handbook for any singer, particularly the American vocalist, culled from decades of experience as an actress and teacher, on Broadway and in films. As Dorothy Tree, she was a contract player for Paramount and Warners and had featured roles in such films as "Abe Lincoln in Illinois", "The Asphalt Jungle" and "The Men". After her acting career ended ("I left Dorothy Tree in Hollywood!") she taught acting, speech and diction at the Mannes College and Manhattan School of Music for over two decades, and was English diction coach for the Metropolitan Opera. All of this experience results in a practical, thorough step by step approach to improving a singers' diction, including an introduction to learning the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), and the correct pronunciation of individual vowels and consonants, separately and in context. American singers in particular will benifit from the study of this book, as Mrs. Uris uses good American speech as her model. |
