The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain

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Remember the Hugh Grant movie from the mid-’90s, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain? It’s the quirky story of Welsh villagers circa 1917 who are very proud of their nearby mountain. Except when a British cartographer measures it, the peak technically only amounts to a hill. This odd little story of community pride and identity has been adapted into a musical by local writer Frank X. Sommers. See a staged reading of the Celtic-inspired musical sponsored by Capital City Theatre.

press release: Capital City Theatre presents a charming story of two English cartographers who visit the small South Wales village of Ffynnon Garw, to measure what is claimed to be the "first mountain inside of Wales." It's 1917 and the war in Europe continues. The villagers are very proud of their "mountain" and are understandably disappointed and furious to find that it is in fact, a "hill." Not to be outwitted by a rule (and the Englishmen who enforce it) the villagers set out to make their hill into a mountain, but to do so they must keep their English guests from leaving before the job is done.  The village people prove that togetherness and perseverance can prevail.

MEET THE COMPOSER & LYRICIST

Frank X. Sommers is the lyricist/composer behind several musical theatre adaptations including the operetta Sense and Sensibility, and the Celtic-infused, The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down a Mountain, which is based on the 1995 Miramax movie (starring Hugh Grant and Colm Meaney) and was featured in the ASCAP Foundation New York Theatre Workshop directed by Stephen Schwartz. He also writes/directs for film, including two independent feature films, Going Great White and Lake Jimmy.

MEET THE DIRECTOR

Andrew Abrams has worked Off-Broadway, regionally and on tour as a professional director, musical director, conductor, composer and Equity actor. Off-Broadway: Between The Lines (York Theater), Pirates of Penzance (New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players). Tours: Cinderella (with Eartha Kitt), State Fair (with John Davidson), Cabaret (with Andrea McCardle), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Fiddler on the Roof (with Theodore Bikel). Regionally: Masterclass (with Rosemary Prinz), Mikado (Theatre Virginia) and numerous others. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison and a Master of Arts, in Musical Theatre, from University of London-Goldsmiths. He is also a graduate of the advanced year of the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop in New York City where he wrote But I’m a Cheerleader, the Musical which just work-shopped at London’s MT Fest UK in February and showcased in Trafalgar Square at West End Live in June. In Madison, Andrew has performed with the Madison Opera, and in Madison Ballet’s The Nutcracker as Herr Drosselmeyer,  and has worked with CTM (Aladdin and Tuck Everlasting). Andrew is a vocal coach, voice teacher, and Acting through Song coach and has worked at NYU, New York Film Academy, AMDA, Mountview Academy (in London), Hofstra University, as well as privately in New York City and Madison.