The Hills of California
A New Play by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Sam Mendes
Opening on Broadway
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Today Sonia Friedman Productions, No Guarantees Productions, Neal Street, Brian Spector, and Sand & Snow Entertainment, with Stephanie P. McClelland, announced that Jez Butterworth’s new play The Hills of California, directed by Sam Mendes, will open on Broadway for a limited engagement at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 W. 44th Street) this fall. Previews will begin Wednesday, September 11 ahead of a Sunday, September 29, 2024 opening night.
The Hills of California marks Tony and Olivier Award winner Butterworth’s newest play since the multi-award winning The Ferryman, also directed by Oscar, Tony, and Olivier Award winner Mendes.
The production is currently playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre on the West End, where it will conclude its limited engagement on Saturday, June 15.
Broadway casting for The Hills of California will be announced at a later date.
Fans can register now for first access to tickets. Sign up at thehillsofcalifornia.com.
“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 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. With stunning design and glorious music, The Hills of California is “a rich, funny, brilliantly layered drama.” (Financial Times).
The creative team for The Hills of California includes Rob Howell (scenic and costume design), Natasha Chivers (lighting design), Nick Powell (composer, sound design and arrangements), Ellen Kane (choreography), Candida Caldicot (musical supervision and arrangements), Amy Ball (UK casting director, Verity Naughton (UK young persons’ casting director), Jim Carnahan CSA, JV Mercanti (US casting director) and Zoé Ford Burnett (associate director).
BIOGRAPHIES
JEZ BUTTERWORTH was born in London, in 1969 and studied English at St. Johns College, Cambridge. His first play, Mojo (Royal Court Theatre, 1995), won seven major awards, including the Olivier Award for Best Comedy. Other plays include The Night Heron (2002), The Winterling, (2006), Parlour Song (2008), Jerusalem (2009), The River (2012), and The Ferryman (2017). Jerusalem transferred from the Royal Court to the West End, breaking box office records for a new play. It won Best Play at the Evening Standard Awards 2010, The UK Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play 2010, before travelling to Broadway where it won Best Foreign Play at the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards 2011. It received six Tony nominations, winning two, including Best Actor for Mark Rylance. The River transferred to Broadway in 2014, starring Hugh Jackman. His sixth play for the Royal Court, The Ferryman, directed by Sam Mendes, was extended during its transfer to the West End. It received 15 five-star reviews in the UK daily press and won Best Play and Best Director at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2017, the Critics Circle Award for Best Play, and 3 Olivier Awards for Best Play, Best Director and Best Actress in 2018. In 2018 The Ferryman transferred to Broadway and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning four including the award for Best Play 2019. His latest play The Hills of California began its West End run in February 2024. Directed by Sam Mendes it stars Laura Donnelly, Leanne Best, Ophelia Lovibond and Helena Wilson. Jez’s screenwriting credits include Fair Game (2010) directed by Doug Liman and starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, Get On Up (2014) directed by Tate Taylor and starring Chadwick Boseman and Octavia Spencer, Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, Black Mass (2015) directed by Scott Cooper and starring Johnny Depp and Dakota Johnson, Spectre (2015) directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig and Naomie Harris, Ford v Ferrari (2019) directed by James Mangold and starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. For TV Jez has created and written the comedy series “Mammals” for Amazon Studios starring James Corden, Sally Hawkins, Melia Kreiling and Colin Morgan. Jez also created the historical fantasy drama “Britannia” which was the first co-production between Sky and Amazon Prime. It stars David Morrissey, Zoe Wanamaker and Mackenzie Crook and ran for three seasons. In 2007, Jez won the E.M Forster award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2019 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
SAM MENDES founded and ran the Donmar Warehouse in London for ten years. He was a founding director of Neal Street Productions. He is an Honorary Fellow of the National Film and Television School, and a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was made a CBE in 2000 and knighted in 2020 for services to drama. Recent work includes The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre, transferring to the West End in December 2023, The Lehman Trilogy and The Ferryman, both productions playing on Broadway and in the West End. Other theatre includes Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night, To The Green Fields Beyond, The Blue Room, Habeas Corpus, Company, The Glass Menagerie, Glengarry Glen Ross, Translations, Cabaret, Assassins (Donmar Warehouse); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oliver!, Kean, London Assurance (West End); Richard III, As You Like It, The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard, The Winter’s Tale (Bridge Project, BAM, Old Vic, Neal Street); The Vertical Hour, Gypsy, The Blue Room, Cabaret (Broadway); King Lear, Othello, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Birthday Party, The Sea (National); The Alchemist, The Tempest, Richard III, Troilus and Cressida (RSC). Film includes American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, Skyfall, Spectre, 1917, and Empire of Light. Awards include the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture, five BAFTA Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Directors Guild of America Awards, the PGA award, five Olivier Awards, the Olivier Special Award, six Tony Awards, four Evening Standard Awards, the Hamburg Shakespeare Prize and the Directors Guild Award for Lifetime Achievement.
SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS is an international production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions around the world. Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated and produced over 200 new productions and together the company has won 63 Olivier Awards, 39 Tonys and 3 BAFTAs. In 2019, Sonia Friedman CBE was awarded ‘Producer of the Year’ at the Stage Awards for a record-breaking fourth time. In 2018, Friedman was also featured in TIME 100, a list of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2017, she took the number one spot in ‘The Stage 100’, becoming the first number one in the history of the compilation not to own or operate West End theatres and the first solo woman for almost 20 years. Current and forthcoming productions include: The Book of Mormon (West End and UK & International Tour); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Global); Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a co-production with Netflix (West End); Merrily We Roll Along (Broadway); Stereophonic (Broadway); Patriots (Broadway); Funny Girl (US tour); Mean Girls (West End); Paddington - The Musical (UK); Oedipus (West End); Fangirls (Lyric Hammersmith); Bust (Alliance Theatre); Millions (Alliance Theatre). Previous productions include: Leopoldstadt (West End & Broadway); Funny Girl (Broadway); Jerusalem (West End & Broadway; The Ferryman (West End & Broadway).
NO GUARANTEES PRODUCTIONS is the multi-Tony Award-winning, theatrical production company bringing artist-driven, universally appealing stories to life. Led by founder Christine Schwarzman, Darren Edward Johnston, and Megan O’Keefe, No Guarantees Productions’ mission is to propel a more vibrant Broadway through outstanding productions, strategic investments, innovative tech initiatives, community engagement, and bold creative decisions. On Broadway, No Guarantees Productions produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham by James Ijames, Sir Ian McKellen in Player Kings on the West End, and co-produced Merrily We Roll Along, Stereophonic, Hell’s Kitchen, Here Lies Love, Hadestown, and Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard, among others. On film, the company executive produced the National Theatre’s film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (PBS/Sky), starring Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley. Their second “stage-on-film” collaboration, Death of England: Face to Face by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, was broadcast on Sky Arts and nominated for the 2022 BAFTA TV award for Single Drama. Upcoming stage productions include the new musical Goddess by Saheem Ali, Jocelyn Bioh, and Michael Thurber. This spring, the company released research examining Millennials and Gen Z’s relationship with Broadway and made a strategic investment in performance marketing agency SINE Digital.
NEAL STREET is one of the UK’s most respected production companies, producing film, television and theatre. Founded 2003 by Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Caro Newling, it makes distinctive, popular award-winning projects on both sides of the Atlantic. TV series: “Call the Midwife,” “Britannia,” “Informer,” “Penny Dreadful,” “Stuart A Life Backwards,” “The Hollow Crown.” Upcoming: “The Franchise.” Films include: Mendes’ Empire of Light, 1917, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, Jarhead and Things We Lost in The Fire. In Production: The Magic Faraway Tree, Hamnet. Current/ recent theatre: The Motive and the Cue, The Lehman Trilogy (co-produced with National Theatre), Hamnet (co-producer RSC), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (co-produced with Leeds Playhouse and touring nationally), the new stage adaptation of Local Hero (co-produced with Chichester Festival Theatre). Previous theatre includes: The Ferryman, Walking with Ghosts, This House, The Painkiller, Shrek the Musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Bridge Project, Enron, Mary Stuart, Red, Hamlet, The Vertical Hour. The theatre slate is overseen by Newling together with producer, Georgia Gatti. In 2015 Neal Street moved under the umbrella of parent company, All3Media, which is owned by RedBird IMI.
BRIAN SPECTOR is a founder of Keaka Productions, a two-time Tony Award® winning Broadway producer (Leopoldstadt and The Inheritance) and a co-producer of the new Broadway musical Suffs. He is also an investor (Prima Facie - Tony Award® for Best Actress in a Play; Six - Tony Award® for Best Score; Come From Away - Tony Award® for Best Director of a Musical; and The Woodsman - Obie Award). As a longtime admirer of Jez Butterworth's work, he invested in the Broadway production of The Ferryman (Tony Award® for Best Play). Brian is also a developmental producer. He executive produced the March 2023 reading and industry presentation of Chilina Kennedy’s new musical Wild About You, then known as With(out) Her, and the star-studded World Premiere Recording featuring Lea Salonga, Alex Newell, Katharine McPhee and others. After the well-received presentation and album, Brian took Wild About You across the pond for two concert performances at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London starring Rachel Tucker, Eric McCormack, Todrick Hall and others. He executive produced Randy Rainbow’s Grammy Award® nominated album “A Little Brains, A Little Talent”. In addition to his producing career, Brian has practiced business law for over 40 years.
SAND & SNOW ENTERTAINMENT (Michael Shulman, founder). Broadway productions include: Hamilton (Broadway, and all national/international tours), Sam Mendes’s Tony Award-winning productions The Lehman Trilogy and The Ferryman. Most recent West End productions include: The Hills of California, Backstairs Billy, The Motive and the Cue, Orlando with Emma Corrin. Previous Broadway/West End productions include Corruption by J.T. Rogers at Lincoln Center Theater, John Logan’s Red, Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan & The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper (Broadway & West End). Upcoming: 5 Notes, an original musical composed by Gloria Estefan and Emily Estefan and directed by Michael Greif. Screen projects include The Exiles at Amazon Studios.
STEPHANIE P. McCLELLAND is a multi-award-winning theatrical producer and founder of Green Curtain Productions (GCP). GCP’S catalogue of over 120 productions worldwide has received 95 Tony Awards, 96 Drama Desk Awards and one Olivier. She has personally received 18 Tony Awards for Leopoldstadt; The Lehman Trilogy; The Inheritance; The Ferryman; Angels in America; Hello, Dolly!; The Humans; The Color Purple; A View From The Bridge; Skylight; All The Way; A Raisin in the Sun; The Book of Mormon; Red; Journey’s End; The History Boys; Spamalot; and Glengarry Glen Ross. In London, Stephanie’s producing credits include The Hills Of California, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Book of Mormon, Sunday in the Park with George, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Spamalot. As a trustee of The Juilliard School, she has focused on the Drama Division and in 2010 Juilliard named the Drama mainstage the Stephanie P. McClelland Drama Theatre. She has also served on the Boards of London’s Donmar Warehouse and the American Associates of the National Theatre.
“Jez Butterworth’s magnificent, moving new play is rich, funny, brilliantly layered drama. Sam Mendes’ beautifully paced production surfs time, place and mood.” - Financial Times
“Hilarious and devastating, The Hills of California will undoubtedly cement Jez Butterworth's reputation as our greatest living playwright.” - Vogue
“A pitch-perfect production from Sam Mendes.
Devastatingly moving, bitterly funny, tender, cruel, and wise.” -The Stage
“A play of beauty, heat and pain, all built on a shattered dream.” - Mail on Sunday