THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA Reviews — Page 2

I usually love Sara Holdren's take and I think she makes a lot of valid points about the piece as a whole (and yeah, I also thought the 2 minute "break" was laughable), but I feel like I saw a completely different performance of Joan than her. Yes Joan is disillusioned and speaks almost exclusively in a deadpan tone, but I thought she was far from the caricature that Holdren described. What impressed me most about Donnelly's performances as both Veronica and Joan was how you could see their false flippancy belying their inner turmoil. The entire caricature that Joan displays is entirely on purpose, and you can see hints of her true self peek through with things like the scene on the stairs.

gibsons2: Some of Holdren's reviews sound like like she watched these shows under influence. I don't know her personal situation, but she comes off as a woman hater. Yuck.

I did not get that at all. She takes Mendes and Butterworth to task however. I agree on many of the directorial choices.

Mendes’s blasé direction and Butterworth’s overripe dramatics are doubly frustrating because they’re weighing down a bunch of fine actresses, turning what might be (and what will surely be called) a great play for women into a slice of formulaic melo-trauma.

Are they holding their 30 under 35 tickets? I got an email that there were new tickets through 10/20 but I don't see them in any of the previous locations (mezzanine past row D, orchestra past row L).

God, I thought this was a pointless bore. I loved The Ferryman, but I couldn't wait for this to be over.

I enjoyed the acting and was impressed with the set.

However, the entire play builds up to a 4 way fight between the sisters, when it turns out the incident that tore the family apart was between the oldest daughter and the mother (and a third party). There isn't a convincing enough justification for why the Laura Donnelly sister was estranged from her siblings for 20 years, or why the conflict between the sisters should be the dramatic focus.

The kids never turned on each other as children. In the 1976 timeline, any of the sisters having an onstage conversation with the dying mother would be more interesting than the third act we got.

Just got back from seeing HoC again (first time was in London) and wanted to share a few general thoughts and some spoiler-filled comments about the reworked third act.
First off, the show is just as strong as I remember from the West End. Performances, direction, set, lights, sound, writing - all top notch! I could go on and on about how much this play moves me but just count me among those who found this work of art deeply affecting - both its London iteration and the current version. Wonderful cast all around, including the newcomers. Laura Donnelly is a force. All of the adult sisters have incredible shining moments of character and emotion. Found myself being most impressed this time around with Leanne Best’s Gloria. Wow! Would not be surprised to see a featured actress nomination is in her future.
As for the act III revisions. Spoilers ahead …………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I didn’t mind them. The reworked act III still hit me as hard as before. The omission of the baby was fine but I thought it largely worked in the original production too. Just reinforcing how broken/numb? adult Joan is.
From my perspective, there are three significant act III differences between these two productions. Two of the differences focus on adult Joan’s character - making her slightly more likable, relatable; and removing a lot of the ambiguity surrounding her feelings for her mother and herself. That’s fine. The ambiguity and dislikable character didn’t bother me in the original production. In fact, I enjoyed chatting with my family after seeing it the first time around, trying to figure what adult Joan was all about, how much of who she portrayed and believed herself to be was a song, a story. But I also understand that those were among the most consistent criticisms of act iii in the original production. So fine, I don’t think they dramatically strengthened or harmed the play.
The other major change for act iii is more of a refocusing. In London, adult Joan essentially skulks away, walking back out of her sister’s lives, leaving a child behind. To me, in the original production, the focus at the end was clearly on the remaining adult sisters and how they were reconnecting and picking up the pieces.
In the current production, the focus at the end is clearly on Joan - both as adult and child - trying to reconcile dreams and trauma.
It’s a change subtly and deftly handled through directing choices. I liked it. It left me feeling something different at the end. Sadder for Joan.
The revision is tidier, in a way. I suppose that’s a good thing, but maybe just a bit less lifelike too…

Updated On: 10/13/24 at 01:55 PM

Saw this last week and really liked it. Laura is amazing as many others have said. Leanne Best was too much for me. I think the show would be stronger if she walked it back a bit. I really loved Ophelia Lovibond as Ruby too. Just brought so much heart. The four younger sisters had fantastic chemistry and were so much fun to watch. I do struggle to understand why there were so many men in this cast. Feels like they're spending a lot of money they could've saved by doubling up some very small parts.

I was a bit confused about the ages of the sisters and the timeline. Was Jillian supposed to be the youngest? If Ruby was younger, why did Jill think their father died before she was born? And, if it's only been 20 years between the time periods, how young did Ruby and Gloria have their kids? Seems to me like they would've had to have been pretty young.

The thing that stuck out to me is that Veronica is not a typical momager. To me, the stereotype is that the momager would give up anything in pursuit of money, fame, and status. Veronica isn't really like that. She was willing to drop Gloria. But, it was so hard for her to accept that the agent didn't want an Andrews Sisters redux. There was an authenticity to her dream that took me by surprise and is of course echoed in Joan and Gloria's conversations in the third act. The third act overall was fantastic. That staircase moment took my breath away. I love those little things that can make a scene so much more effective. Turning that turntable 90 degrees instead of 180 totally dialed up the intensity of that moment.

I saw this last night and really liked it.

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