Eliza Schneider

Eliza Jane Schneider (born February 3, 1978) is an American actress, singersongwriter, playwright, dialect coach and dialectologist, historian, and voice artist. Mini Biography Eliza Jane Schneider, actress, songstress, oral historian, dialect researcher, and playwright, has been fascinated by sound all her life. At age 7, she was recognized as a violin virtuoso, studying the Suzuki ear-training method at the Eastman School of Music, where she also studied classical voice. She now sings, plays, and writes music for television and radio recording artists, and plays 11 instruments. She was raised on a Chippewa reservation by a German drama teacher/playwright and a Jewish legal aid attorney. By age twelve, she had gotten her Equity card playing an English role in "A Christmas Carol" and an American Southern role in "Inherit the Wind." She has traversed America ten times recording dialects, and distilled the enormous amount of information she accumulated into her critically acclaimed one-woman show, "Freedom Of Speech," in which she recreates 34 different dialect characters from all around the country. "Freedom Of Speech" premiered in the summer of 2003 at the New York International Fringe Festival to rave reviews and won the "Best Solo Show" award. It then ran OffBroadway at P.S. 122 in the Spring of 2004, ending up at The Public Theater in the fall of 2005. The Washington Center for the Performing Arts and CitiStage/Symphony Hall in Springfield Massachusetts booked the popular show for their 2004-2005 seasons. Eliza Jane Schneider was profiled on the International Bravo! Network's "Arts & Minds" program, along with "Sting." For five years, she voiced eight different female characters for Comedy Central's hit animated series "South Park." She's created multiple dialect characters for MTV's series, "3 South", NBC's "King of the Hill," the Mel Gibson film, "What Women Want," and Pixar's smash feature, "Finding Nemo." On camera, Eliza Jane recurred on UPN's "Girlfriends" as a white girl, surprisingly fluent in "Ebonics". She also recurred as a Russian on NBC's "Spy TV," and is known in over 60 countries as series regular "Liza," on CBS' "Beakman's World." Schneider is a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) sponsored playwright who has developed her plays, including "Sounds of Silence: A Documentary Puppet Musical Farce about the 2004 Election in Ohio," with dramaturges at the prestigious O'Neill Theater Center in New London, Connecticut, for the past two years. In 1998 her solo play, "USA 911" was critically acclaimed all the way from Madison Wisconsin to Kilkenny, Ireland, and won her inclusion in the California Arts Council's Touring Artist's Roster. Her first solo play, "Road Trip" won her a Drama-Logue Critic's Award for Outstanding Performance. A 20-year veteran of the stage, Schneider has performed in dozens of other plays, including the title roles in Antigone and Agnes of God (another award winning performance). In 2000, "Blue Girl," her science fiction rock opera about the return of the goddess, won the LA Weekly's "Best of LA" award, and in that same year, she also starred in "Blue Girl" at the Mogodor Opera House in Paris, France as part of the 2000 Millennial New Year's celebration, with former cast members from the Cirque Du Soleil. Founder of the "Eliza Doolittle Dialects" school, Ms. Schneider is often called upon to coach actors for dialect roles and to help foreigners speak English with an American accent. She has organized numerous master-classes with Robert Easton for some of the other top voice artists in Hollywood. Eliza Jane studied dialects and acting at Northwestern University and UCLA,

where she graduated with a BFA from the World Arts and Cultures Department in Theater. She wrote her senior thesis on American Regional Dialects, and then participated in the Dialect 2000 conference at Queens University Belfast dealing with Scottish, Ulster, and HibernoEnglish. Some of her recordings were used in the creation of the book resulting from that conference, Language Links: The Languages of Scotland and Ireland (edited by John M Kirk and Donall P O Baoill, 2001.) In 2002, she recorded hundreds of Alaskan dialects, canvassing reservations, bars, and street-corners from Juneau to Barrow. In 2003, she attended the joint meeting of the Northern English Dialect Societies in Yorkshire and recorded additional dialects from Cumbria to East Anglia. In November of 2005, she added the dialects of South Africa to her DAT collection, and she plans to collect various dialects of the West Indies in March of 2006, while on a live tour of the songs from her new solo music album, "Gypsy Grass." Eliza Jane Schneider will continue to traverse the globe. So far, she has digitally recorded over 1200 interviews with native speakers of variant forms of English throughout the world. Life and career Schneider spent her formative years on a Chippewa Reservation with her two older brothers. Her father was a math and drama teacher at the School of Arts High School in Rochester, New York, where she graduated as salutatorian. She also participated in a theater program at Northwestern University's National High School Institute and graduated from UCLA as a world arts and cultures major. For her senior thesis, she made a cross-country road tour in a former ambulance studying regional dialects. She succeeded voice actress Mary Kay Bergman (after Bergman's 1999 suicide) alongside Mona Marshall as the lead female voice actors on the animated cartoon series South Park, a position she held until 2003, when she left over a contract dispute. "I asked for a union contract, played hardball and walked," she told a journalist.[1] She was replaced by April Stewart. Voice over

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (video game) (2006) Elizabeth Swann Kingdom Hearts II (2006) Elizabeth Swann, additional voices Finding Nemo (2003) additional voices Shadow Complex (2009) Clair Assassin's Creed II (2009) Rebecca Crane Alice in Wonderland (2010 video game) The White Queen Blade Kitten (2010) Justice Kreel, Terra-Gin, additional voices Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010) Rebecca Crane Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011) Rebecca Crane Assassin's Creed III (2012) Rebecca Crane Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012) - Additional Voices Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013) - Ms. Decibel

Television

Popzilla (2009) MTV Girlfriends (Season 2) Episode: "Sister, Sista" (2002) (as Lynn Searcy's sister, Tanya) Spy TV Episode 1.2 (as various characters) Beakman's World (19941995) (as Liza) Black Tie Affair (1993) The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys (1992) (as Sheila Brentwood) Squirrel Boy (as the voice of Martha) Invader Zim (episode The Girl Who Cried Gnome as Moofy) Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2011) (as Baroness Paula von Gunther and Georgette Taylor)

Character voices

South Park Wendy Testaburger Sharon Marsh Liane Cartman Shelley Marsh

Mayor McDaniels Principal Victoria Mrs. Crabtree Carol McCormick Estella

Popzilla

Gisele Bndchen Tori Spelling Michelle Obama Britney Spears Beyonc Ugandan Adoption Agent Heidi Klum

Mrs. Philippines International 2012 What is your favorite word? Why? At 45 and with 3 kids, I take most pride in my total fitness --- body, mind and spirit. My husband and I, as "The Fitness Couple", aim to inspire and be role models to our children and to as many people as we can. What is your favorite TV program? My hero is everyone who rises above great odds and succeeds, and inspires me and others to do the same. What is your worst habit? Why? My most prized possession is my husband's unconditional love and support. What is your favorite saying? Why? My nickname is Liza. My real name is Rodaliza, a combination of my late dad's, my mom's and my late paternal grandmother's names. What is your favorite day of the week? Why? Philippines is a beautiful tropical country. I love the Christmas season. It's cool, nostalgic, and a perfect time to be with our family.
Thursday, January 17, 2013

Manila, Philippines Simply Unforgettable!

Before Joe and I even made it to the line for customs in Manila, we were met with a man wearing a suit holding our names on a placard. We had no idea why, but I had a feeling it was the work of my treasured friend and classmate from HBS, Ms. Pinky Tobiano. My hunch was correct, and in those first minutes we were given a taste of a world neither Joe or I had ever experienced before. It is impossible for me to adequately capture all that happened in Manila, however, I hope to share some highlights with you starting with an introduction to our most generous hosts Ms. Pinky Tobiano and Mr. Juan Carlos Robles. They met up with us at our hotel Edsa Shangri-La for breakfast to prepare for a very big day! We were also joined by a very nice man, who happens to be a doctor friend to Pinky. Our first stop was at a government operated hospital with approximately 600 beds trying to serve 1,000 patients called East Avenue Medical Center. We were welcomed by Dr. Bong Bueno and his staff and given a carte blanche tour of the entire hospital including; Burn Unit, Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, Operating Rooms, and Pre/Post Op. I can not possibly thank Dr. Bueno enough, all of the care providers who so graciously gave us their time, and the patients who so freely allowed us to witness their private moments. A very special message of appreciation also needs to go out to a talented and wonderful young man, Erik Santos also known as "The Prince of Pop!" Yet another surprise by Ms. Pinky.

Our second stop was at Green Acres home for the elderly, which Pinky has supported for many years. She and Juancho thought it would be our preference to share time with the people of Manila versus shopping, and they were right. An autograph was requested, which I was honored to share. Our third stop will forever hold a place in my heart...and Joe's...where we held the beautiful babies who have been abandoned. The babies left at the orphanage will either be adopted or stay in this system until 12 years of age. After all of this, we shared lunch with Liza Schneider, Mrs. Philippines International 2012 and Pinky, and her assistant Anya, and Pinky's friend Mel at the popular Gloriamaris Dimsum and Shabu Shabu Restaurant. It was a very nice lunch and truly wonderful to see Liza again! The afternoon was spent on a guided tour, learning about the history of Manila. We were in capable hands, and joined by Anya and Mel. We visited a WWII Memorial, which is maintained by the USA and we were overwhelmed by the more than 70,000 names etched in stone. Many were from Minnesota and some familiar names. We passed Makati City, which is the financial district, explored the "Walled City" of Intramuros with it's Spanish influence, and walked inside the church and museum of San Agustin. Our tour ended as we drove past Manila Bay and watched the sun set. Dinner was hosted by another one of my accomplished and generous classmates, Mr. Joey Antonio. It was so good to see Joey again, and we were also joined by Pinky, Juancho, and Pianne, who happens to be one of my favorite artists and the very sweet daughter of Ms. Pinky.