'The Hills of California': Webb sisters' saga

‘THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA’: (left to right) Nancy Allsop, Nicola Turner, Sophia Ally & Lara McDonnell. Photo: Joan Marcus.

THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA
A new play by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Sam Mendes
Through December 22, 2024
Broadhurst Theatre
235 West 44^th Street
https://thehillsofcalifornia.com/

By Scott Harrah

British playwright Jez Butterworth has written stage sagas about England (Jerusalem) and Ireland (The Ferryman) and now he takes on America via the elusive dreams of a widow and single mother, Veronica Webb (Laura Donnelly). She hopes to turn her four daughters in Blackpool, UK into singing stars across the Atlantic in the poignant epic The Hills of California.

America is a running theme in The Hills of California. Veronica owns a struggling hotel in Blackpool called Sea View (although it has no view of the sea) and the rooms are named after U.S. states like Mississippi. The story is told in both the past and present, depicting two eras: 1976, during a summer heatwave, when three of the Webb sisters have gathered at their childhood home as their mother lies dying of cancer upstairs; and 1955, when Veronica is trying desperately to book her daughters as a singing quartet styled after the Andrews Sisters.

Most of the story, however, is told through the eyes of the sisters. Jill (Helena Wilson) is the only one who is not married and still lives at home. Her sisters include Gloria (Leanne Best) and Ruby (Ophelia Lovibond). They are waiting for their sister Joan (incredibly played by Laura Donnelly in a dual role)—the only one to move away from England—to arrive on a flight from California. The siblings are concerned about their mother on her deathbed, and anxious about whether Joan will even show up. Joan has been estranged from the family for more than 20 years.

Back in 1955, Veronica insists on getting her daughters to polish up their sister act. However, after a visit from Luther St. John (David Wilson Barnes), a Hollywood agent, Veronica and her daughters learn that Americans have moved on from the Andrews Sisters. The girls perform such oldies as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” The play’s title is derived from “The Hills of California,” an old B side by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, a song the Webb sisters sing as an ode to the Golden State.

Fast-forward to 1976. Jill is a long-suffering spinster who is devoted to her dying mother. Gloria is in an often-volatile marriage to her husband and has two kids, while Ruby, despite a great singing voice, never pursued show business, is emotionally fragile and plagued with anxiety.

Sister Joan finally arrives from America in a wave of cigarette smoke and hippie glamour. She now speaks in an American twang and seems like an outsider in her childhood home. She recorded an album in the States shortly after she moved across the Atlantic, but soon spiraled into a life of substance abuse. The true fireworks in the show truly explode toward the end of the nearly three-hour drama. The chemistry amongst the four sisters is amazing, and one really feels all the pathos and grief they are all experiencing about the impending death of their mother.

Director Sam Mendes extracts outstanding performances from the gifted ensemble. The Hills of California is a story of women in crisis and the family ties of sisters united in grief. The performances of Ms. Wilson as Jill, Ms. Best as Gloria, Ms. Lovibond as Ruby and Ms. Donnelly as both Veronica and Joan are consistently moving and packed with emotion. David Wilson Barnes is fittingly direct and menacing as American show-business agent Luther St. John.

The actresses playing the younger versions of the sisters, Nicola Turner as “Young Jill,” Nancy Allsop as “Young Gloria,” Sophia Ally as “Young Ruby” and Lara McDonnell as “Young Joan” are all first rate. These young women truly flesh out the sad backstory of the Webb sisters in the 1950s with sincerity and a sense of wistfulness.

Unless one is familiar with British regional dialects, the show can be challenging at times, especially in the beginning when the characters speak in rapid-fire Lancashire accents. It is hard to say whether the issue might possibly be resolved with tweaking the actors’ microphones but fortunately one gets used to the dialect as the story progresses.

The Hills of California is a challenging drama, but one ultimately worth the long running time. It is one of Jez Butterworth’s best plays yet. It is as complex as The Ferryman but more simplistic than Jerusalem, and is ultimately a timeless tale of grief and the ups and downs a family experiences throughout the years.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 14, 2024
Reviewed at October 8, 2024 press performance