The WhatsOnStage Award-winning musical announces its stars.
Original West End cast members David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone, and Zoë Roberts will star in the Broadway premiere of Operation Mincemeat, beginning performances February 15, 2025 at the Golden Theatre. Opening night is set for March 20.
The zany, fact-based musical is written by actors Cumming, Hodgson, and Roberts, alongside Felix Hagan, all of who make up the UK theater troupe SpitLip. Robert Hastie directs.
Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny (and tiny-budgeted) production at the London Fringe New Diorama Theatre in 2019. 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 at the Fortune Theatre in 2023, where it won the Olivier and WhatsOnstage Awards for Best New Musical, alongside garnering 74 five-star reviews and counting.
Malone won an Olivier Award for his performance as Hester, singing the standout ballad “Dear Bill.” Cumming plays Charles Cholmondeley, Hall plays Jean Leslie, Hodgson plays Ewen Montagu, and Roberts plays Johnny Bevan and Others.
The show is described as follows: “The year is 1943 and we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler?”
Directed by Robert Hastie and choreographed by Jenny Arnold, the creative team includes Ben Stones (scenic and costume design), Mark Henderson (lighting), Mike Walker (sound), Steve Sidwell (orchestrations and vocal arrangements), and Joe Bunker (musical director).