Photos: THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA Broadway Cast in Rehearsals

Rehearsals are underway for the Broadway premiere of Jez Butterworth’s new play The Hills of California, directed by Sam Mendes. The limited engagement begins preview performances September 11, at the Broadhurst Theatre, and will celebrate opening night on Sunday, September 29. Get a first look at the cast in rehearsals below! 
 
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 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 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.
 
“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 their triumphant production of The Ferryman, Tony®-winning Playwright Jez Butterworth and Oscar and Tony-winning Director Sam Mendes reunite for The Hills of California. 

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 four young sisters 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. With stunning design and glorious music, The Hills of California is “a rich, funny, brilliantly layered drama.” (Financial Times).
 
The full creative team for The Hills of California includes Rob Howell (designer), Natasha Chivers (lighting design), Nick Powell (composer, sound design and arrangements), Ellen Kane (choreography), Campbell Young Associates (wigs, hair & makeup design), Candida Caldicot (musical supervision and arrangements), Kate Wilson (dialect coach), Amy Ball (UK casting director, Verity Naughton (UK young persons’ casting director), Jim Carnahan CSA, JV Mercanti (US casting director), Zoé Ford Burnett (UK associate director), Joan Sergay (US associate director), Gemma Fuller (UK associate choreographer), Sara Brians (US associate choreographer), and Charles M. Turner III (production stage manager).