The Hills of California Extends Broadway Run by Two Weeks

Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California has added two weeks to its engagement at the Broadhurst Theatre. Directed by Sam Mendes (who also directed Butterworth's The Ferryman on Broadway), the show began previews September 11 and will now run through December 22. The production opens September 29.  

The Hills of California’s Broadway cast features the play’s acclaimed leading London cast members: Olivier Award winner and Tony nominee Laura Donnelly as Joan/Veronica; 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 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.

This past June, the play concluded its limited engagement at the Harold Pinter Theatre on the West End where it received 2024 Best New Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play (Laura Donnelly) Olivier Award nominations.

In the sweltering heat of a 1970s summer, the Webb sisters return to their childhood home in Blackpool, an English seaside town, where their mother Veronica lies dying upstairs. Gloria and Ruby now have families of their own. Jill never left. And Joan? No one’s heard from her in twenty years… but Jill insists that their mother’s favorite won’t let them down this time.

The run-down Sea View Guest House is haunted by bittersweet memories of amusement park rides and overdue bills. Back in the 1950s, each night the girls rehearse their singing act, managed by their fiercely loving single mom. But when a record producer offers a shot at fame and a chance to escape, it will cost them all dearly.