Interview: Sam Hartley of OPERATION MINCEMEAT at CIBC Theatre
'It's our world history living through that. And to watch this group of five goofballs make it happen is really lovely and really touching to get to watch.'
If you’ve always wanted to see a musical comedy about a secret WWII military mission, then Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical is the show for you. Operation Mincemeat will be coming to Chicago on September 29, 2026.
Before the Broadway in Chicago Summer Concert, BroadwayWorld sat down with Sam Hartley, understudy in Operation Mincemeat. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What has your journey to Operation Mincemeat looked like?
I am a part of the original Broadway production. I cover two roles, Hester Leggett and others, and Charles Chumley and others. So I was a part of the original cast, the very first Americans, to ever do the show. When I started the show, it was the five British cast members who originated it on the West End. They came over, and then the five understudies were American. So I got to be a part of the very first original crew. That's very exciting.
There are only five members of the principal cast of Operation Mincemeat, where you all alternate between multiple roles (I read somewhere it was 87!). Can you talk a little bit about how you navigate all the nonstop quick changes and the science behind all the props in this very intricate fast-paced show?
The magic of this show is you feel like it will never happen. It can't. There's no way it's ever happened before. It's never gonna happen again. And then one day, it just clicks. We have such a great team. The five original understudies were learning from the humans who created it. We have no better teachers than to study from the mad scientist brains that created it to begin with. In watching them and then getting to work with them, we sort of routinely work through the show over the course of that first year. And now in year two, it all feels great. And then we got to be a part of helping to teach the new Broadway cast members, so now we are a full 10 American Broadway team. It's just one of those things. It feels impossible, and then one day, it just locks in, and then you can't imagine not doing it like that.
The show is based on the true story of a 1943 top-secret British intelligence plot to trick Nazi Germany. When you think about a historical military deception operation, musical comedy is probably one of the last genres of storytelling you would expect. But Operation Mincemeat is a comedy and it is a spy thriller, with brilliant music to top it all off. What’s your favorite part about performing in such a multifaceted show that blends so many elements together?
It's the heart that's behind all of it. I think that's the secret sauce of Operation Mincemeat is we have jokes a minute, like you'd expect from a Book of Mormon type of show. We have history that feels fresh, interpreted in a new way, like you maybe feel from Hamilton or something. But then we've got this punch behind it all. They're all real humans. They really lived this incredible journey. Not everything is in the show, believe it or not. It's even crazier than what ends up on stage. The thing I love about this show is that it is a true musical theater lovers’ show, but also, it's going to get somebody who doesn't feel like, ‘Oh, I don't know if I want to spend an afternoon or a night at the theater.’ Well, it's got history. It's our world history living through that. And to watch this group of five goofballs make it happen is really lovely and really touching to get to watch.
As we’re seeing a rise in fascism not just in the United States but in different places around the world, what does it mean to be touring North America in this moment to share this story where (spoiler alert) facism loses? And what lessons can we take away from Operation Mincemeat?
The world hates to see history repeat itself. And if somehow, it attempts to do so. I can't think of a better story to hear right now than, ‘we stopped them.’ They didn't win. No matter the threats, no matter the backstabbing, secret, awful things that come along with something like that. The good guys won. We have a line in the show: ‘If it's up, it's up as one.’ Meaning, if we're gonna do this, it's together. And that means the bad guys, too. Like, we're all in this together, and I cannot think of a more important message to hear right now than that.
Thank you to Sam Hartley and Broadway in Chicago for this interview!
Operation Mincemeat plays at CIBC Theatre from September 29 to October 11, 2026. Learn more on the Broadway in Chicago website.
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