“What is a song? A song is a dream… a place to be. Somewhere you can live. And in that place, there are no walls. No boundaries. No locks. No keys. You can go anywhere…”
Following the incredible success of The Ferryman, the Tony Award winning Playwright Jez Butterworth has reunited with the Oscar and Tony Award winning Director Sam Mendes for The Hills of California. In the sizzling summer heat, the Webb siblings return to their childhood home in the British seaside – the rickety Seaview Guest House – to say “goodbye” to their unwell mother. When memories from their past come flooding back, they must confront their childhood and untangle a web of secrets, betrayals, and important emotional bonds.
This “relentlessly entertaining new play” (The New York Times) takes audiences back to the seventies, then further back to the fifties when the sisters, fantasising of becoming a famous vocal group, had their lives changed forever. With beautiful set design and stunning music, The Hills of California “is a magnificent production. I never wanted it to end.” (Chicago Tribune)
The Hills of California Tickets
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A moving and beautifully acted drama, meticulously directed by Sam Mendes.
Synopsis
The Hills of California follows the Webb sisters as they return to their childhood home during a heatwave in the summer of 1976. Gloria and Ruby Webb make their way to the weathered guest house, named Seaview, on the coast of the Irish Sea to say “goodbye” to their unwell mother, Veronica. Jillian, who lives with and cares for their mother, welcomes the siblings back. Gloria and Ruby then wait for their estranged sister Joan, their mom’s supposed favorite, to arrive and say her goodbyes.
The show repeatedly transports audiences to the spring of 1955, as Veronica and her daughters rehearse their close harmony singing act with choreography. Veronica, who is a single mom, has high hopes for her daughters to be the next Andrews Sisters. And everything changes when a high profile record producer from the U.S. comes to the Seaview to see their act.
“A dream of a Broadway drama” – Variety
“A relentlessly entertaining new play” – The New York Times
Creative Team
The creative team includes Jez Butterworth (Playwright), Sam Mendes (Director), Rob Howell (Designer), Natasha Chivers (Lighting Designer), Nick Powell (Composer, Sound Designer & Arranger), Ellen Kane (Choreographer), and Candida Caldicot (Musical Supervisor & Arranger).
Leading the cast is Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated actress Laura Donnelly who will be reprising her role as Joan / Veronica in The Hills of California. Her performance was so outstanding that she recently received a second nomination for Best Actress at the Olivier Awards. Other cast members include Leanne Best (Sweat, The Human Voice, Educating Rita) as Gloria, Ophelia Lovibond (The Libertine, Nightfall, The Effect) as Ruby, Helena Wilson (Linck and Mülhahn, Jack Absolutely Flies Again, White Noise) as Jill. Meanwhile, David Wilson Barnes will take on the role as Luther St. John, Ta’rea Campbell as Biddy / Penny, Bryan Dick as Jack Larkin / Dennis, Richard Lumsden as Joe Fogg / Mr. Potts, Richard Short as Bill / Mr. Halliwell, Nancy Allsop as Young Gloria, Sophia Ally as Young Ruby, Lara McDonnell as Young Joan, Nicola Turner as Young Jill, Liam Bixby as Tony, Ellyn Heald as Mrs. Smith, Max Roll as Mr. Smith, and Cameron Scoggins as Dr. Rose.
“Jez Butterworth is one of the greatest playwrights working today” – Ben Brantley
“Laura Donnelly gives a performance of a lifetime” – Vogue
History and Awards
Playwright Jez Butterworth brought his latest work, The Hills of California, to Broadway last fall. The production previously bowed in London earlier in 2024, and before coming stateside, it clinched two Olivier Award nominations for Best New Play and Best Actress for Laura Donnelly, who assumed her performance in New York.
Since Jez Butterworth debuted on Broadway just 13 years ago, he has quickly shot to stardom as one of the theater’s most accomplished modern playwrights. With two Tony nominations to his name, for 2011’s “Jerusalem” and 2019’s Tony Award winning epic “The Ferryman,” we expect the run of The Hills of California at Broadhurst Theatre to be just as spectacular!
Broadhurst Theatre
There’s no better venue than the Broadhurst Theatre to host Tony Award winning Playwright Jez Butterworth’s next epic venture. Much like the venue, The Hills of California is an authentic nod to both nostalgia and the contemporary. Located on 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, the Broadhurst Theatre opened its doors in 1917 and is still entertaining audiences to this day. From local New Yorkers to worldwide theatre enthusiasts, people travel from all over the world to be transported into the bygone era at the Broadhurst Theatre.