How the cast of the Tony-nominated "The Hills of California" worked to get the accents right

The Tony-nominated "The Hills of California" transports the audience to Blackpool, England, a seaside community with a distinct accent.

Actor Allison Jean White said she transformed her speech, word by word, to portray Veronica, the mother of the four daughters.

"One of the sounds that I knew for sure sort of all northern, is the 'uh' sound, like in cup. It becomes 'uh' like 'coop' and 'Soonday.' So I just made those sound changes in my script," White said.

Before voice and accent coach Ashleigh Reade taught the cast how to sound like they were from Blackpool, she had to learn the accent for herself.

She said, "I started looking for sound samples, looking for native speakers of this accent, starting to put materials together."

Repeatedly watching a city council meeting in Blackpool wa