Attention Mincefluencers! The acclaimed new musical Operation Mincemeat, which took the West End by storm in 2023, is coming to Broadway, starring the original London cast.
It’s 1943, and the Allied Forces are on the ropes. Luckily, they’ve got a trick up their sleeve. Well, not up their sleeve, per se, but rather inside the pocket of a stolen corpse. Equal parts farce, thriller, and Ian Fleming-style spy caper (with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself), Operation Mincemeat tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII.
The plot is based on the real World War II British deception mission to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. The events were depicted in the 1950 novel Operation Heartbreak, and the 1953 novel The Man Who Never Was. The latter formed the basis for the 1956 British film of the same name. A film titled Operation Mincemeat was released in 2021.
The musical was written and composed by the comedy group, SpitLip, featuring David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts. The project is directed by Robert Hastie and choreographed by Jenny Arnold.
It began as a tiny (and tiny-budgeted) production at London’s New Diorama Theatre. The show quickly gained a devoted following, spurring sold-out runs at venues including Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studios. It finally premiered in the West End on May 9, 2023 at the Fortune Theatre, where it received rave reviews, and continues to play to standing-room-only crowds.
Operation Mincemeat went on to earn six 2024 Olivier Award nominations, winning Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical. It was also named the Best New Musical at the 2024 WhatsOnStage Awards. Earlier in the show’s journey, Operation Mincemeat picked up the Off-West End award for Best Musical Production and Best Company Ensemble, as well as The Stage Debut Award for Best Composer/Lyricist.
When it arrives on Broadway, Operation Mincemeat will have been running in London for two years.
Still, one’s viewing pleasure derives largely from the show’s superb five-person cast (three of whom are also its co-creators), whose ability to do quick costume changes and switch genders and characters on a dime – as well as handle the many challenges of Felix Hagan’s accomplished pastiche score -- are truly medal-worthy.
What I do know is that the performer who comes across best is the one who seems the least forced: Jak Malone, who not only provides the show’s best mincing—as a campy fraudulent coroner bedecked in sequined blood—but also, by far, its meatiest dramatic moment: the Act I ballad ‘Dear Bill,’ in which Hester imagines a letter to the fictitious downed airman from his fictitious sweetheart, and which rings truer in feeling than anything else in the show.
| 2023 | West End |
West End Production West End |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Zoë Roberts |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Jak Malone |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Zoë Roberts |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Jak Malone |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL | Robert Hastie |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Zoë Roberts |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Jenny Arnold |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical | Robert Hastie |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Musical | Jak Malone |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Operation Mincemeat |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Zoë Roberts |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Zoe Roberts |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | David Cumming |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | Felix Hagan |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | Natasha Hodgson |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | Zoe Roberts |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Jak Malone |
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