Award-Winning British Musical 'Operation Mincemeat' Will Come to Broadway in 2025
Claire-Marie Hall, Zoë Roberts, David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Jak Malone in the West End production of "Operation Mincemeat"
(Photo: Matt Crockett)
So often, American Anglophiles are forced to watch the British theater scene from a distance, thrilled over the news of favorite actors cast in yet another William Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde classic. While U.S. fans occasionally get to see a handful of the productions that make their way to streaming or cinemas via the National Theatre, it’s hard not to feel a bit of FOMO over all the shows we’re undoubtedly missing out on. Well, for once, we won’t have to. Operation Mincemeat, the most recent Olivier Award-winning Best Musical that has sold out performances in London’s West End, is coming to Broadway.
Set during World War II, the show follows the story of the infamous titular espionage operation, which saw British intelligence deceive the Germans via an elaborate ruse. Using fake documents planted in the briefcase of a corpse that they arranged to have discovered on a beach in Spain, Mincement managed to mislead the Germans about the actual target of the Allied invasion of Sicily.
“There’s a real sense of vertigo when comparing where we started to where we are now,” David Cumming, one of the show’s writers and composers, told BBC News. “It’s hard to believe that our precious baby of a show has grown into what feels like a leviathan now riding across the pond. It’s both exciting and daunting.” The musical has extended its sold-out run at London’s Fortune Theatre for a tenth time and is now booking until March 2025. The Broadway production is slated to begin previews in February at New York’s John Golden Theater.
Here’s the show’s synopsis.
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.
If the story of Operation Mincemeat sounds familiar, it’s because it’s already been adapted into three books, a television episode, a play, and two films. The most recent incarnation was the 2022 feature film starring such heavy hitters as Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, and Penelope Wilton, currently streaming on Netflix.
The musical, written and composed by comedy troupe SplitLip, comprised of Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Robert. Director Robert Hastie will reprise his work for the Broadway production, along with choreographer Jenny Arnold. Casting and further creative team announcements will be made soon.
“If we had to name one single unifying influence for “Operation Mincemeat,” it would be the American musical comedy,” SpitLip said in a joint statement. “Thank you to our fans, particularly those in the U.S., for getting Operation Mincemeat here. If it gets hounded out of Broadway after one night, it will still be beyond our wildest dreams. Our producers, we’d imagine, would be less pleased.”
Operation Mincemeat will begin previews on Saturday, February 15, ahead of opening night on Thursday, March 20, 2025. A ticket pre-sale (with sign-up at OperationBroadway.com) will begin on Monday, November 18, with a general sale to follow on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
