Video: Inside Opening Night of THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA

It feels exactly like I hoped and dreamed it would feel

I mean, really. I don't want to be too saccharine, but it really is. It's the dream

It feels amazing. I said to Sam, our director, just now, I feel like I've been in the best way thrown out of a plane

and I'm like flying, and all I can see is kind of clouds going past me

but it's amazing. Everyone said Broadway was special, and it really is. Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Tony and Olivier Award-winning playwright, Jess Butterworth's new play, The Hills of California

which is directed by Sam Mendez, has come to Broadway, and we're here at the Art House

on opening night to celebrate with the company. It's lovely. It's lovely

I mean, I was, you know, just saying, it doesn't feel like six years ago we were here with the ferryman

and three years ago we were here with Lehman, so it feels like those things happened

very recently to me. So it feels like I never went away, which is a nice feeling

And I'm delighted, because I think this show is better than it was stronger than it was in London

I think it's, you know, I felt this about the ferryman. It's really at its strongest now

And audiences have been responding wonderfully, and I'm excited for people to see it

Audiences fell in love with this show first in London, and we all fell in love with it the other night as they continue to do so

What have you enjoyed the most about working on it here for Broadway? I think getting it right

I felt like we felt the last act now is like a bonfire

It just feels like it really cooks off. I think that it resembles the last acts of Jerusalem and the ferrymen And I felt like all these plays for me like continue to evolve

And I was really thrilled to be able to make those changes to the last act

and then see the response to it. I mean, the proof really is in the pudding

Well, now I can say it, welcome home to Broadway. How does it feel

That feels amazing. The fact that this is not my first time

and therefore I knew what I was kind of looking forward to coming back to

And it all is exactly as I remember. It is as exciting, as big, as spectacular as I kind of remembered it was

And that's just lovely. What's made this all so special with working on this play

The women. My sisters, on stage and off stage, the rest of the cast

San Mendez, who is brilliant and kind and fearless. and you can throw yourself completely in his care

and he will take care of you and build you a structure from which you can fly, hopefully

and jazz. Just, you know, the man that wrote the play is the man that wrote the play

and it's, I really, really love it. I love the play and I love the people

So, you know, it's no good front of house at the back of house isn't quite as special

and it happens so rarely. It feels like a dream. Honestly, this is the kind of thing

that when you are a little kid and you're 10 years old and you're acting in a kind of, you know

insisting your parents watch you, and then you think, one day I'm going to be on Broadway, and then you're here

It a dream come true Then your director Sam Mendez I mean having him in the room is not a big pinch moment like the first day you were in the room with him Sam Mendez has a way of directing you that makes you feel completely at ease

So, yes, you know, it would be disingenuous to think, oh, it doesn't matter

But as soon as you're in the room, you think, oh, we are just in a room, we're just individuals that care about a play

and we're going to tell it as beautifully as we can. He's full of detail, he's never prescribed

He's, he has such, he's got pure joy for directing, especially when you're in the rehearsal room, and that we really feed off his enthusiasm

What's it like living in the world of Jess's words and his play? It's like, I don't know if you've ever done an escape room, but it's like the doors close and you have a puzzle to solve together, and then it's over and you've done it, and the only way out was through is the only way I can describe it

It's amazing. I mean, it's such a treat to never ever have to fix a nanosecond of anything

You're just in it and it carries you. It's amazing. Welcome to Broadway. How does it feel

So surreal. The atmosphere is crazy. And I feel so lucky and so grateful

Unbelievable. But also everything I hoped it would be. It's been really, really special, magical

I think when we stepped on stage, that was when I was like, oh, this is happening. It's happening

And like this now, it's just so nice to celebrate and be with everyone

So, yeah. I mean we were really nervous But like as soon as you step out they kind of drop away and you just feel like it was really electric out there and like the audience were amazing

It was, yeah, it was, I enjoyed it so much. It's mean the absolute world to me

These, this cast and this company are some of the people I hold very close to my heart

We have shared experiences together that not many people get to. And the love that we all share for each other is what this play is about, you know

these women coming together to share these stories is so, so, so important

and it's been a dream come true. We're like family. It was like coming home

Coming back into that rehearsal room was like coming home. It felt really special and warm and comforting like a hog

And then getting to come over here with everyone. We're really holding tightly onto each other

And there's just so much love and you can really feel it. It must be so cool to all experience like making debuts together

and all coming over as a company. Yeah, well, we were laughing. You know, Laura's the old

She threes the charm. but what's so lovely is she was saying

like you know it never gets old this is it just never gets old and even the other day

like you know it's tech week and then it's previews and you're working really hard and you're a bit tired

and you're running your notes and you're kind of going over the thing on the subway and kind of came out of the subway

and just went oh my God like it's time square like I'm going to the stage door

at the Broadhurst theater on Broadway you know it's just it really is magical

and I think that the notion of the dream and trying to get there and make it, whatever that means for any of us

I feel a little bit like I made it today