Dialect coach JB Blanc, center, works with the cast. Alex Brightman listens. “There isn’t a vowel sound that is similar to an American vowel sound,” Blanc says of the challenge. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
The dialect coach’s goal is to turn the young actors into proper English gentlemen in preparation for the play “The History Boys,” opening Nov. 14 at the Ahmanson Theatre. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
Dialect coach JB Blanc has learned that the best way to teach is to demonstrate. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
A dialect isn’t just a sound, it’s geography and history, the cast learns. At work with their coach, the actors include, from left, Brett Ryback, Andrew McClain, Ryder Bach and Peter Paige. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
