Video: Meet the Company of THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA

It's not even, excitement doesn't cover it

I'm off the chart. I'm off the charts. It's amazing. It's unbelievable

It just doesn't feel real. Like it doesn't feel like it's happening. Like it's just such a surreal feeling, can't wait

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. Following a critically acclaimed sold-out run in London

Jess Butterworth's new play, The Hills of California, which is directed by Sam Mendez

is coming to Broadway. It begins performances on September 11th, and we caught up with a company right before they began. rehearsals

When you first got the play, what made you say, yeah, I want to do this? Well, it has got to a point where if Jez wrote a version of the phone book, I'd probably say

okay, I'll do that, because, you know, he's one of the two or three greatest playwrights

alive, I think. But it was immediately obvious, two things. One was that he was stretching the limits theatrically for him

He, until now, all his plays have taken place in one location, one time period

And suddenly he was writing two-time periods. And also he was stretching in other ways

There was music in this play. There was dancing in this way. There was a sort of level of theatricality

that was really exciting for those who followed his work. And so immediately I thought, I love that

I also loved where he had set it. I love, you know, those who don't know Blackpool

imagine Atlantic City with a lot of vaudeville theatres in about the mid-70s and you get the idea, you know

And back in, he split it between the mid-70s, I remember in my childhood and the mid-50s, a time when Black Ball was thriving and a time when it's beginning to die

And I love that counterpoint And I also love the universal theme of dreams of showbiz you know Everyone understands dreams of escape It called Hills of California Spoiler alert it not said in California but it is about a dream of escaping to California

And I think for all of us in England, and for many people here, Hollywood still remains a kind of mirage

and oasis of possibility in the distance. And so in that regard, it felt

even though it was very specific to those places, it felt very universal play. You know, so all of those things just made me want to do it

Kind of from the first page onwards. I just thought it was magic

So how do you describe the play? It is, it's just a, it's sister, brother, cousin of my other plays

It's, if you like them, you know, come along. It's big, it's, you know, it's three acts

It's, you know, it takes place pretty much in one location, it takes place in one location, like all my plays

you know, it's an old-fashioned kind of play-play. I'm from the 20th century, you know

and I sort of, it's becoming, I was sort of out of fashion

and then I'm sort of, it's now my unique selling point. Like, this is how I sound, this is what I do

And I don't think it's going to really change. I like big stories that you sit there

and three hours later you can't believe that you've been there all that time

It's been in development, actually, since we opened it in London. And so whilst we loved what we did in London

we're almost thinking of this as the version that Jez and Sam and the company and myself always wanted to do

But we opened it cold in the West End. Very rarely rare to do that with a new work And it was only as the play was developing and we saw it with an audience did Jess and Sam and us all think

okay, we're on a journey with this play. And Broadway was beckoning us, and here we are

And so we haven't stopped working. Jez has done a big rewrite

So it's very exciting. So it feels like, it doesn't feel like a transfer

like I often do. It does feel like we're opening a new piece

play on Broadway? I mean, it's a very easy decision whenever Jess Butterworth says he has

a new play. It's just like, yes, and you don't even need to tell me about it, I will do it

But then, as it went on, and he kind of described what he wanted

to do with it, and then as we got in workshops and developed it, it

just became clear to me that it was going to be a kind of challenge that I have never

had before, particularly playing two different roles, and the opportunity there to be able to create two that

are so distinct from each other is a more is a really fascinating they kind of have to be in conversation

with each other and so that's a really fascinating thing to develop it's very very different

it turns out to developing one character and not something I've ever done

before so yeah it's great it's an extraordinary play it feels so

universal the themes that Jez has managed to describe and yet it's set in a very

specific time and place however the themes are universal and he's got such a

a beautiful handle on character and having these four robust female roles, I'd never, ever read a play

where the four female roles were so powerful and diverse and had, there's loads to get your teeth into

It was a very easy, yes. I was saying to jazz, so when I was a kid my granddad was a club singer in Blackpool where the play is set And he used to do the seasons and he used to finish his set with New York New York And when we found out we were common I just couldn believe it

She's getting emotional. So I just felt like it was my dream come true, my granddad's dream come true, a family dream come true

It's a really big deal. Beyond excited. It's a dream come true

It really, really is. Yeah, it's just, I mean, the West End run was amazing

but to come here is really, I saw Sutton Foster in anything goes on Broadway when I was about 12 and

ding! So it's really just amazing to be here and the community already have been so supportive and kind

I mean, I can't even put it into words. I'm so, so excited and to be able to share this experience with everyone here as well, it's just incredible

Yeah, I think even hearing you say the words Broadway debut just sent like a whole shiver at my smile

So yeah, incredibly excited, but it feels so surreal as well because I think as to you younger

I'm from Dublin and you were from London. So I think getting to be here in New York

with such a beautiful, meaningful play that we love so much. And a Broadway debut is such a surreal thing

that so many people dream of and we're about to do it, which is crazy. What's it like being back in rehearsal again

with the play for Broadway? It's so amazing. I feel like we're so lucky to be able to do that

because we can take what we've learned throughout the run and like doing it eight times a week

We know the characters so well. But also we've had a break, so we're able to kind of look at it objectively and find new things

And yeah, it's really, really incredible. It just feels very fresh, like having a break in between and coming back

like being in the room with everyone again and meeting new people. It was just so lovely that first day

And again, like finding new things out about your characters that you didn't know before

like after it for six months. Yeah, it was lovely being back again