Operation Mincemeat Producer Jon Thoday: "The Demographic Is Becoming Broader All the Time"

Operation Mincemeat has been a “little show that could” since its humble beginnings in 2019. What began off-West End has become a phenomenon, winning this year’s Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards for Best New Musical, alongside a raft of rave reviews. Now, this unexpected hit is gearing up for its Broadway debut at the Golden Theatre, beginning performances on February 15. The original West End cast members, several of whom also wrote the show, continue their journey to take the stage in New York City.

Producer Jon Thoday of Avalon has been with the show since its early days in 2019, witnessing its steady rise fueled by rave reviews, strong word of mouth, and a growing fanbase. In this conversation, Thoday reflects on the process of bringing this small but mighty production to Broadway, the crossover appeal of the story, and the enduring charm that has made Operation Mincemeat a sensation.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Operation Mincemeat had its first day of presale yesterday, and your stars are posting on social media that the first preview is already sold out.
It sold out very quickly. It was the largest sale day in Mincemeat history. Anecdotally, the last three weeks in London have also been our biggest weeks since we opened, and we’re heading for our third year.

Why do you think that is?
I can’t really tell you why; I can only tell you that it has. I’ve been with it since 2019, and it’s been growing since I met them. A year ago, our advance was a million pounds in the West End and now it’s over two. The word of mouth is the biggest and strongest thing, and great press. It has just been snowballing. What I’ve noticed is, in the same way that the American audience in London grew from 2 percent to 15 percent, which is a very high number in the West End, the demographic is becoming broader all the time. We’re seeing people coming from further and further away in London. It’s a little show that people have discovered, and it’s become big. It appeals to people who are 8 and people who are 80, and it appeals to people who are British and American.

For the Broadway run, you’re doing a three-day ticket presale; we’re talking early on day two. What is behind this strategy?
Basically, we put a thing up on the London website over a year ago, asking fans to say where they’d like the show to be. Most people said they wanted to see it in New York. We’d been collecting names of people that were potential fans for a long time, so we had quite a big list, just north of 20,000 names. The organic growth of that list made us think positively, and we wanted to have this growing group of fans be able to get their tickets easily.

Was the Golden your first choice?
We wanted to go into a playhouse. We love the fact that Stereophonic is there, and there’s a cool audience that comes to that. Personally, I like the fact that the Golden was the home of Avenue Q, and that there was this sketch show called Beyond the Fringe, which made Peter Cook and Dudley Moore stars, and that was at the Fortune Theatre in London and moved to the Golden in 1962. It is the one we wanted and the Shuberts were very kind in giving it to us.

In the UK, the show is known for its pricing strategy of every seat being the same cost. Is that something you’re able to replicate in New York?
We’re not replicating that in New York. We’re basically doing old-fashioned reduced-price previews. We want as many people to see the show at an affordable price before we open, and it’s essentially $20 off most seats, $10 off some. In the end, word of mouth is everything, and while the show has a very broad appeal, young audiences love it, so we’re hoping it’s the right thing to do. We’ll also have a lottery, probably biweekly, which is what we do in London, because people quite like to plan. And then after that, it’s dynamic pricing. In the end, it costs a lot of money to do a show on Broadway.

Were you surprised by the difference in budgets between London and New York?
I wouldn’t say surprised is the right word. Horrified is the right word. Surprised a bit, horrified a lot. But in the end, Broadway is the top of the mountain for theater in the world as far as we’re concerned. It’s an incredible honor to be doing the show there.

Your team did several surveys, including one that questioned whether the show was “too British for Broadway.” What did that yield?
When we were raising money, a lot of investors were sort of saying things like that. What we knew in London was that more and more Americans were coming to see the show, so it seemed slightly odd to us that people were saying that. Americans seemed to like it and always brought their friends back. The “Too British for Broadway” survey came out to around 90 percent of the Americans who replied saying it wasn’t too British for Broadway. Some people were quite annoyed that we’d even asked the question, but we were only doing what people were saying.

You also did a “Do we need a star to break through” survey.
Obviously, we don’t know the answer to that yet. But yesterday was good. We’re hoping that they’ll be embraced. They’re amazing performers. When we were there the other week, I was in the auditions for covers, and the talent was amazing, which is very good for the future.

But I’m just excited about seeing them back onstage. On the last night of the first cast in London, 800 people queued around the theater in London. I saw a journalist I knew, and I said, “What are you doing queuing around the theater?” And she said, “I’m here with my daughter. She’s seen the show eight times.” And the woman behind her said. “I’ve seen it 80 times.” I just hope that they can arrive as new people and leave as stars.