Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The daft new musical OPERATION MINCEMEAT arrives on Broadway, unapologetically silly (and British)

• By drediman
• April 3, 2025
• No Comments

Last night, I was able to take in the Broadway transfer of the Olivier Award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat at the John Golden Theatre. Across the pond in London, the relentlessly daft musical was a surprise success and is currently one of the most popular shows playing on the West End. Devised by the founding members of the theater collective SplitLip — David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts (Cumming, Hodgson, and Roberts also appear in the show) — Operation Mincemeat is a goofball retelling of an unlikely real life World War II deception operation, which enabled the British to successfully disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily from Hitler (no spoilers here as to how!).

Motivated by the spirit of collaboration and physical comedy, SplitLip’s aesthetic is reminiscent of Fiasco, but bent more towards new work. Although comparisons to adventurous historical musicals like Six and Hamilton have been prevalent, Operation Mincemeat actually more meaningfully aligns with the scrappy theatrical ingenuity of the popular stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps and the unhinged comedic antics of the works of Monty Python. Suffice to say, the show is very, very British — unapologetically so — both in its silly humor and mildly satiric patriotic score. Although arguably bloated and overlong, the unadulterated joys of theatrical storytelling and landing a good gag nevertheless propel the piece to giddy heights, thanks largely to director Robert Hastie’s very smart and smashingly resourceful production.

Operation Mincemeat‘s original London cast has re-assembled for the musical’s outing on the Great White Way. The evening I saw the show, this quintet of hard-working performers — all of whom deftly play a slew of roles in addition to their primary characters — were firing on all cylinders, driven by an endless supply of madcap energy. What’s particularly impressive is how each manages to create endearing characters out of what is essentially an elaborate fringe sketch comedy. Giving perhaps the most disarming performance of the lot is Jak Malone as Hester Leggatt (and others), who grounds the production with unexpected — albeit much needed — humanity.

RECOMMENDED

OPERATION MINCEMEAT
Broadway, Musical
John Golden Theatre
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run