Must-See Broadway: ‘The Hills of California’
Head to Manhattan for a hot-ticket blockbuster drama! Following their triumphant production of The Ferryman, Tony-winning playwright Jez Butterworth and Oscar and Tony-winning Director Sam Mendes reunite for the critically acclaimed The Hills of California, now playing on Broadway.
The Hills of California is the latest big Broadway drama to pack audiences in and attract rave reviews. This British play by Jez Butterworth is an epic, almost three-hour family drama, equal parts August: Osage County and The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, but with a load of theater influences and references.
British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter Sam Mendes deftly handles Tony and Olivier Award winner Butterworth’s newest play since the multi-award winning The Ferryman, which he also directed.
The Broadway transfer from the West End features leading London cast members: Olivier Award winner and Tony nominee Laura Donnelly as Veronica/Joan; Leanne Best as Gloria; Ophelia Lovibond as Ruby; Helena Wilson as Jill; Nancy Allsop as Young Gloria; Sophia Ally as Young Ruby; Lara McDonnell as Young Joan; and Nicola Turner as Young Jill. The full company (17 actors!) also includes David Wilson Barnes, Ta’Rea Campbell, Bryan Dick, Richard Lumsden, Richard Short, Liam Bixby, Ellyn Heald, Max Roll, and Cameron Scoggins. The company understudies are Jessica Baglow, Sawyer Barth, Erin Rose Doyle, Liz Pearce, Q. Smith, and Sadie Veach.
Photos: Joan Marcus
Everyone is excellent, but Donnelly gives an astonishing dual performance as a determined stage mother to four daughters; and as Joan, the favorite but prodigal daughter. Donnelly received a Best Leading Actress in a Play Olivier Award nomination for the role in a tour de force written by her husband, Butterworth.
Photos: Joan Marcus
The play begins in the sweltering summer of 1976, as the Webb sisters reconvene in their childhood home in Blackpool, an English seaside town that has seen more prosperous days. The set (designed by Rob Howell) is the run-down, comically named Sea View Guest House and Spa, with its dilapidated tiki bar and broken jukebox. Upstairs, at the end of a labyrinthine staircase, Veronica Webb lies dying. Adult daughters Gloria, Ruby, and Jill trade memories and jibes laden with subtext as they wait for their sister Joan to arrive. The only trouble is, no one’s heard from her in 20 years.
Flashback to the 1950s, when each night the four young sisters rehearse their singing act, the Webb Sisters—modeled on the already waning popularity of the Andrews Sisters. Managed by their ambitious mother who is raising them alone, she will do almost anything to see them up on the stage of the London Palladium. But a bungled visit with a talent-scouting record producer will have drastic ramifications for decades to come.
Photos: Joan Marcus
The Hills of California receives its title from the 1948 song by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, which is part of the musical repertoire of the Webb family. It also references an escape into an American dream that is out of reach in these Blackpudlians’ working-class playground.
Veronica’s mantra, parroted by her daughters, is: “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…”The Hills of California, with its richly layered scenes, nostalgic and bittersweet music, and heartbreaking scenes, is theatre worth traveling for. The run has now been extended.
What you need to know:
The play is 2 hours 45 minutes with intermission. The regional English accents are thick and, at times, difficult to understand. There is smoking on stage, and themes referencing abuse.
What the critics say:
“(A) rich, funny, brilliantly layered drama.” —Financial Times
“A dream of a Broadway drama.” —Variety
“Hills of California confirms Jez Butterworth’s status as the great time lord of theater today. It’s not just his portrayal of people caught in a melting, mythic past, but his uncanny gift for making nearly three hours pass in what feels like mere minutes.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times
“I never wanted this magnificent show to end” —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Tickets are on sale at Telecharge.com, by calling 212-239-6200, or in person at the Broadhurst Theatre box office.
