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.