New play 'The Hills of California' to open on Broadway this fall
Academy, Tony, and Olivier Award winner Sam Mendes directs the latest show by Tony and Olivier winner Jez Butterworth, known for Broadway's The Ferryman.
A new play by Jez Butterworth titled The Hills of California will open on Broadway this fall. Directed by Sam Mendes, the show begins performances on September 11 ahead of a September 29 opening at the Broadhurst Theatre.
Butterworth and Mendes last teamed up on Broadway for the 2018 play The Ferryman, which earned them Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Direction of a Play, respectively. Mendes is also best known for directing the Tony-winning The Lehman Trilogy and Oscar-winning American Beauty.
They premiered The Hills of California earlier this year in London, where it's running through June 15, to critical acclaim. The show follows the sisters of the Webb family, who return to their childhood home as their mother is dying. It also flashes back 20 years earlier, when they're all training to be singers under their mom's management — until a producer offers them a chance at fame and an escape, and their choices have consequences for everyone.
"Jez Butterworth has created a new masterpiece," a five-star review in London Theatre reads. "[Butterworth and Mendes] have developed a slick production in which not a word, not even a breath, is wasted."
Casting for The Hills of California has yet to be announced. The creative team includes scenic and costume designer Rob Howell, lighting designer Natasha Chivers, choreographer Ellen Kane, musical supervisor and arranger Candida Caldicot, and composer, sound designer, and arranger Nick Powell.
Photo credit: Jez Butterworth and Sam Mendes. (Butterworth photo by Justine Matthew; Mendes photo by Mark Douet)
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