WEST END’S ELEVENTH EXTENSION TICKETS ON SALE TODAY
“The Brits have made the year’s funniest musical…Against the odds, the “Operation Mincemeat” gang has found its way to the big time.”
Peter Marks, The Washington Post
#1 2023 Theatre Show
“Despite all that Hollywood firepower, my top pick was a homegrown musical about the UK’s role in World War II”
Sarah Rappaport, Bloomberg
“a little show with a very big future”
David Benedict, Variety
“My far-and-away favorite production—and a complete surprise to me—was the musical “Operation Mincemeat… a comedy that has been cheerfully dismantling jingoism builds a stirring vision of real fellowship in its place.”
Helen Shaw, The New Yorker
“the feel-good West End musical of the summer… The reviews for the show have been ecstatic… the overwhelming impression is of hopefulness, expansiveness, possibility and joy.”
Alexis Soloski, The New York Times
74 ★★★★★ reviews and counting
Friday 1st November – It was announced today that the original cast of the 2024 Olivier Award®-winning Operation Mincemeat, featuring David Cuming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Olivier Award-winner Jak Malone, and Zoë Roberts, will reprise their acclaimed roles for the musical opening on Broadway at the Golden Theatre on 20th March 2025.
The news coincides with tickets for the eleventh extension through 19th April 2025 at the West End’s Fortune Theatre going on general sale today. Operation Mincemeat entered its second sold-out year in London with its hit new cast, Emily Barber, Seán Carey, Chlöe Hart, Christian Andrews and Claire-Marie Hall, in May 2024 – “the West End hit is still the perfect mix of ingenious, silly and moving…With a new cast, the Olivier Award-winning musical about the wartime operation is as terrific as ever” ★★★★★ Marianka Swain, The Telegraph .
Until 15th February, when Broadway previews begin, tickets will be available exclusively in London. After that, Operation Mincemeat will run simultaneously in both New York and London.
Broadway tickets go on General sale on 20th November. Sign up here for priority access to a fan pre-sale on 18th November. Tickets for the West End’s Fortune Theatre are available only from the Official Box Office here.
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 on 9th May 2023 at the Fortune Theatre, where it won the Olivier and WhatsOnstage Awards® for ‘Best New Musical’, alongside garnering 74 five-star reviews and counting, and has become the ‘Best reviewed show in West End history.’
This extraordinary debut musical is written and composed by the comedy troupe, SpitLip, comprised of David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts. The decision to write it was the last roll of the dice from the quartet of young British creatives after years of performing sketch shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and echoes the journey of Beyond the Fringe from the world-famous quartet Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1960, before moving to the Fortune Theatre and later to the Golden in 1962.
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?
The production is directed by 2023 Olivier Award nominated Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, National Theatre – 2023 Best New Musical Olivier Award winner), following providing directorial support for the Riverside Studios run, while Olivier Award nominated Jenny Arnold (Jerry Springer: The Opera, National Theatre) continues as Choreographer. Also from Standing at the Sky’s Edge at the National Theatre on the creative team are: 2023 Olivier Award nominated Ben Stones (Sylvia, The Old Vic) as Set and Costume Designer, Tony Award, six-time Olivier Award and Bafta Award winning Mark Henderson (Girl From the North Country, Broadway & Noël Coward Theatre) as Lighting Designer and Olivier Award winning Mike Walker (Jerry Springer: The Opera, National Theatre) as Sound Designer. Grammy Award winning and Tony, Emmy & 2024 ‘Outstanding Musical Contribution’ Olivier Award nominated Steve Sidwell (Beautiful: The Musical, Broadway & Aldwych Theatre) is Orchestrator and Vocal Arranger, while 2024 ‘Outstanding Musical Contribution’ Olivier Award nominated Joe Bunker is Musical Director. Georgie Staight is Associate Director and Paul Isaiah Isles is Associate Choreographer. Casting is by Pearson Casting.
Operation Mincemeat won the 2024 ‘Best New Musical’ and ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical’ Olivier Awards, following receiving six nominations. These awards trail winning the 2024 ‘Best New Musical’ WhatsOnStage Award and the ‘Best West End Show’, ‘Rising Star’ and ‘Best Understudy’ West End Wilma Awards. Previously on the show’s journey, Operation Mincemeat has picked up the Off-West End award for ‘Best Musical Production’ and ‘Best Company Ensemble’ and The Stage Debut Award for ‘Best Composer/Lyricist’.
Operation Mincemeat is produced in the West End and Broadway by Avalon (in association with SpitLip). The show was commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co-commissioned by The Lowry, and also supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat.
Notes To Editors
- On 15th February 2025, Operation Mincemeat will begin previewing at the Golden Theatre on Broadway, following the Tony Award-winning play Stereophonic.
- On 16th September, ATG granted Operation Mincemeat at the West End’s Fortune Theatre, originally slated for an eight-week run, an incredible tenth extension through 8th March 2025.
- To date, Operation Mincemeat has sold over 300, 000 tickets on the West End and a record-breaking fan has attended over 140 times.
- On 14th June 2024, a survey of Americans who have seen Operation Mincemeat revealed that 90.2% believe the show is not “too British” for Broadway.
- On 13th May, Operation Mincemeat entered its second year in London with a debut performance of the new cast, Emily Barber, Seán Carey, Chlöe Hart, Christian Andrews and Claire-Marie Hall , with George Jennings and Jonty Peach joining Holly Sumpton and Geri Allen to form the Company. The original Principal cast comprised of David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone and Zoë Roberts.
- On 14th April 2024, Operation Mincemeat won ‘Best New Musical’ and ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical’ Olivier Awards®.
- On 4th April 2024, Concord Theatricals announced it secured from Avalon exclusive worldwide secondary licensing rights to Operation Mincemeat.
- On 8th March 2024, Sony Music released a limited-edition 7″ ‘Dear Bill’ vinyl featuring Jak Malone, who portrayed Hester Leggatt on-stage, to coincide with International Women’s Day.
- On 26th January 2024, after years of campaigning on social media, Colin Firth, star of the Operation Mincemeat film, watched the musical.
- On 11th December 2023, a plaque in honour of Hester Leggatt was unveiled at the Fortune Theatre.
- In Autumn 2023, Reece Shearsmith, Frank Skinner and Rosie Jones hosted post-show Q&As.
- In August 2023, following #OperationInterestingMan starting to mysteriously appear on X/Twitter over the Bank Holiday weekend, over 80 Mincefluencers surprised a performance in costumes from every different character in the musical. In total, the five person multi rolling cast play 32 characters.
- In August 2023, a decision to ban the posters for Operation Mincemeat on the London Underground was reversed by Transport for London
- In August 2023, MI5 officially confirmed the identity of Hester Leggatt.
- In July 2023, the musical’s fandom, referred to as Mincefluencers, tracked down previously unearthed records for Hester Leggatt, the head of the MI5 secretarial division, who helped turn the tide of history. More information here.
- In June 2023, Sony Masterworks Broadway picked up the Original Cast Recording digitally and on CD in the United States.
- In May 2023, to celebrate the West End premiere, Sony Music released the full Original London Cast Recording on CD, vinyl, streaming and digital. Listen here. To date, the tracks have been streamed over 2 million times worldwide.
- After five sold-out development runs at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and Southwark Playhouse in 2020, 2021 & 2022, plus an extended Riverside Studios run last summer, Operation Mincemeat began previews in the West End in March 2023.
- The last musical produced by Jon Thoday for Avalon, Jerry Springer: The Opera, led to a prosecution for blasphemy. So far, Operation Mincemeat seems to be heading towards a happier conclusion.
- The idea of the musical came through Natasha Hodgson’s brother pointing SpitLip towards an episode of the Stuff You Should Know podcast about Operation Mincemeat.
- The show is currently featured in the V&A’s Re:Imagining Musicals display, exploring how musicals have continuously reimagined, reinvented and reinterpreted themselves over time.
- Other adaptations of Operation Mincemeat include: –
- Operation Heartbreak (book, 1950) by Duff Cooper, former Cabinet Minister of Information
- The Man Who Never Was (book, 1953) by Ewan Montagu
- The Man Who Never Was (film, 1956) based on the book by Ewan Montagu
- Operation Mincemeat (book, 2010) by Ben MacIntyre
- Operation Mincemeat (film, 2022) starring Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen
- ‘Top secret’ documents found on the aforementioned stolen body, include the receipt for a diamond ring from the legendary London jeweller, S J Phillips and theatre tickets from the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre, currently housing The Book of Mormon.
Biographies
David Cumming (Charles Cholmondeley) is an award-winning writer-performer and co-writer and star of Operation Mincemeat which won Best New Musical at the 2024 Olivier Awards, and which also saw him nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Charles Cholmondeley. Outside of Operation Mincemeat, David is a part of the award-winning dark-comedy theatre troupe Kill the Beast and a freelance actor/writer/director/composer in his own right. His multi-award-winning beatbox retelling of Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster, co-created with the BAC Beatbox Academy, was one of The Guardian’s Top 10 Shows of 2018 and was later adapted for TV by David and the team for BBC Four. Further credits include: Theatre: Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre), Saint Jude (Swamp Motel: Composer/ Sound Design), Dog Show (Pleasance Theatre: Co-creator/Composer/Performer)
Film and TV: Hex Vet (Nickelodeon: Voiceover), The Amazing Mr Blunden (Sky Arts: Actor) Radio/Podcast: The Sink (BBC Sounds: Composer), Who Exploded Vivien Stone? (Fremantle/ Kill the Beast: Co-Writer/Performer.
Claire-Marie Hall (Jean Leslie) trained at Mountview Academy and is currently playing Jean Leslie in the Olivier Award winning Operation Mincemeat at the Fortune Theatre, a role she originated in the West End. Further theatre credits include Jean Leslie in Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse & Riverside Studios), Cosette in Les Miserables (West End), U/S Dea in The Grinning Man (West End), Cynthia Houston/Mama Mega in Spies Are Forever – West End Concert (Tin Can Bros/Lambert Jackson), Gabriella Montez in High School Musical (Hammersmith Apollo & National Tour), Tuptim in The King & I (National Tour), Innkeeper’s Wife in The Wicker Husband (Watermill Theatre), The Colours (Soho Theatre), On Hostile Ground (Northampton Royal & Derngate), The Wonderful Storybook (Theatre Peckham), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Outdoor Tour, Scoot Theatre), Jesus Christ Superstar (Frinton Summer Theatre), The Sorrows Of Satan (Tristan Bates Theatre), Between Empires (St James’ Theatre & Edinburgh Festival) and Aladdin (First Family Entertainment, Jordan Productions & Hackney Empire)
Film/Television credits include Just Up Your Street and Aladdin (BBC Wales). Radio credits include When The Dog Dies and My Brilliant Divorce (BBC Radio 4).
Natasha Hodgson (Ewen Montagu) is an award-winning writer-performer and co-writer and star of Operation Mincemeat which won Best New Musical at the 2024 Olivier Awards, and which also saw her nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for originating the role of Ewen Montagu. Outside of Operation Mincemeat, Natasha is a part of the award-winning dark-comedy theatre troupe Kill the Beast and created and starred in her own critically acclaimed BBC scripted fiction series The Sink which was nominated for Best Podcast/Online Audio at the Audio Drama Awards 2021 and named one of the Top 20 Podcasts of 2020 by The Guardian. Theatre includes: Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre); Director’s Cut, Don’t Wake the Damp, He Had Hairy Hands and The Boy Who Kicked Pigs (Kill the Beast). Film and TV writing includes: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (Channel 4), Dogs in Space (Netflix), The Amazing World of Gumball and Bravest Warriors (Cartoon Network). Radio and Podcast includes: Creator/writer The Sink (BBC)
Jak Malone (Hester) Jak Malone is an Olivier Award-winning actor from Merseyside.
He won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, playing Hester in Operation Mincemeat at the Fortune Theatre.
Further stage credits include Sondheim on Sondheim (Alexandra Palace Theatre); Spies Are Forever (Gillian Lynne Theatre); Operation Mincemeat (Riverside Studios / Southwark Playhouse / New Diorama Theatre) and A Clockwork Orange (Everyman Theatre, Liverpool). Workshops include Benny & Joon (Larry Hirchhorn); Grayson: The Musical (National Theatre). Training: BA Acting, LIPA. When Jak is not performing he’s an avid fan of horror movies, nail varnish and The Muppets.
Zoë Roberts (Johnny Bevan & Others) Zoë Roberts an award-winning writer-performer, and co-writer and star of Operation Mincemeat, which won Best New Musical at the 2024 Olivier Awards, and for which she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for originating the role of Johnny Bevan & Others. Outside of Operation Mincemeat, Zoë is part of the award-winning dark-comedy theatre troupe Kill the Beast. She specialises in making hugely entertaining, genre-defying stories infused with complete and utter silliness. Theatre includes: Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre, Riverside Studios, Southwark Playhouse, New Diorama); Saint Jude (Swamp Motel); the Ivy Isklander series (Swamp Motel); Director’s Cut, Don’t Wake the Damp, He Had Hairy Hands and The Boy Who Kicked Pigs (Kill the Beast).
Film & TV writing includes: Dogs in Space (Netflix) Podcast & Radio writing & performing includes: Who Exploded Vivien Stone? (Fremantle/Storyglass), Behind the Screams (Little Earthquake) and Eglantine Whitechapel: Supernatural Detective (Kill the Beast)
West End Listings Information
Official Box Office
www.OperationMincemeat.com
Venue
Fortune Theatre
Russell Street
London
WC2B 5HH
Nearest Tube: Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line)
Performances
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
Until 18th November 2024
Monday to Fridays at 7.30pm
Saturdays at 8pm*
Tuesday and Saturday Matinees at 3pm
*Saturday shows after 18th November change to 7.30pm
Christmas schedule linked here
Access performances
See venue website for full schedule
Ticket Prices
£19.50-£89.50
Group Prices
Group price comprising of £10 off (per ticket) for groups of 10+ and £20 off (per ticket) for groups of 30+. Promo codes here.
Family Price
Family price comprising of £10 off (per ticket) for family parties of 6+ in a single booking for the same performance here
Loyalty Price
Loyalty price comprising of £10 off per ticket for 6+ groups available for those who have seen the show more than twice. Apply here.
Ballot
From 10th March to 19th April 2025, Monday, Tuesday and Saturday shows will be exclusively available through the ballot here. The ballot is free to enter (one entry per customer, up to 6 tickets per customer.)
Lottery
Lottery tickets are accessible here. £25 tickets are available Wednesday – Saturday.
Keep up to date on social media
Twitter/ Instagram / TikTok: @MincemeatLive @OperationMincemeatLive @spitlip #OperationMincemeat #GodThatsBrilliant @FortuneTheatre1
CREDITS
Book, Music & Lyrics
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts.
Cast
Geri Allen, Christian Andrews, Emily Barber, Seán Carey, Claire-Marie Hall, Chlöe Hart, George Jennings, Jonty Peach and Holly Sumpton.
Director Robert Hastie
Choreographer Jenny Arnold
Set & Costume Designer Ben Stones
Lighting Designer Mark Henderson
Sound Designer Mike Walker
Orchestration & Vocal
Arrangement Steve Sidwell
Casting Director Pearson Casting
Musical Director & Piano Joe Bunker
Keyboard & Deputy MD Ben Cox
Bass Guitar & Bass Synth Rachel Espeute
Drums & Percussion Lewis Jenkins
Associate Director Georgie Staight
Associate Choreographer Paul Isaiah Isles
Producers Jon Thoday & Richard Allen-Turner
Executive Producer Andrew Fell
Associate Producers Celia Dugua & Julien Matthews
