I think you'll need to decide if accents are necesary for the show.  If they are then you may want to see who makes the best attempt at one during the auditions but you might be left in unenviable position of deciding on the best actor or the best accent.

Good luck!  

I have used the "Acting with an Accent" by David Allen Stern... They are availalbe through French..  We used his CD's for a NYC accent for Lost in Yonkers and we are currently using his British and Cockney CD's for Scrooge... good resource for a convincing accent..

Originally posted by Topper I remember attending a community theater production of "South Pacific" and the actor portraying the handsome and romantic Emile De Becque was attempting some kind of accent that at once was familiar for some inexplicable reason.  It didn't sound quite right for the character and was driving me crazy until my friend attending with me pointed out that this dashing, romantic leading man sounded exactly like Andy Kaufman's "Latka" character from the sitcom Taxi!

Now, if he had sung "Some Enchanted Evening" in an Elvis voice, I'd have paid to see that!

Most definitely, bad accent <<< no accent. 

Is there some need to do accents anyway?  I've been in a lot of Italian restaurants -- a LOT of Italian restaurants  -- and very few of them had people with Italian accents inside. 

If they all can do the accent fairly convincingly, go for it.  If not, no-one should do it. All or nothing at all, I guess!

I think certain shows almost require an accent because of the distinctive language used (eg:  anything by Noel Coward, Brian Friel, Tennessee Williams.... where the language used is obviously typical of a certain locale and the cadence of the lines almost produces the accent automatically). It doesn't have to be heavy.  The gentleman who helped my cast develop their Irish accents for "Dancing at Lughnasa" suggested that we pick out one or two elements of the accent and only use those, focusing on the "lilt" or cadence of the language instead of the sound of the words. And Neil Simon is just as funny (well, some of his plays are funny) without a New York/Jewish accent.  Just make sure you focus on the "Simon Rhythm".

red diva

Here's an interesting accent story for y'all.  In a fairly recent community theater production of Peter Pan, at one rehearsal, Smee suddenly began sporting a french accent! He had told the director he just wanted to try it out.  Needless to say, the rest of the pirates stood there, chins dropped to our chests, and finally started giggling.  Someone finally said, "You're kidding, right?"  and the director said she'd told him he could try it!  Picture Smee saying, in a very horrible french accent,
"Oui oui, mon capitain, I will tie up zee Indian for you"
Oh god it was almost to horrible to be funny.

Also, in terms of all or none with accents, think Kevin Costner in Prince of Thieves!!!  What the...?