Operation Mincemeat

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You may know the true story from the feature films The Man Who Never Was (1956) and the more recent Operation Mincemeat (2021), based on Ben Macintyre’s 2011 book of the same name: in 1943 the Allies needed a plan to fool the Nazis into believing that their forces were to invade Sardinia when they were really planning to land in Sicily. British intelligence known as MI5 was given the project. They came up with “Operation Mincemeat” – drop  the corpse of a dead pilot off the coast of Spain with a briefcase of false papers outlining the false plan. Since Franco’s fascist government was in cahoots with Germany, the plans were certain to end up in Berlin if all went well. The resulting triumph is now known as MI5’s finest hour.

SpitLip, the new British music comedy troupe, has brought their London hit also called Operation Mincemeat to Broadway after winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for its West End transfer from several fringe theaters. The five member original cast has made the trip across the pond including three of its four writers, David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts. Singer songwriter Felix Hagan who has not yet appeared in the show is not in the production. The cast also includes Jak Malone who won the Olivier and West End Wilma Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical and Best Rising Star, respectively, as well as Claire-Marie Hall who also appeared in the London fringe and West End productions.

The new musical attempts to out Monty Python Monty Python by creating a full-length show and story in their style, although its origins also go back to British Music Hall where there is also much cross-dressing (i.e. men playing women and women playing men). Those who love Monty Python will have a great time; those who don’t may find the two hour and 30 minute show heavy going. The show is also Very British and a great many of the jokes and gags don’t land for American audiences. However, the hard-working cast is impressive playing many roles each and Robert Hastie’s fast-paced direction doesn’t give a lot of time to think about the antics on stage.

The cast demonstrate their versatility and adaptability often playing different roles in successive scenes. Natasha Hodgson is amusingly upper class as naval intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, an entitled prig who knows how to take credit for other people’s work. As his partner and sidekick in Operation Mincemeat is David Cumming’s nerdy and autistic scientist Charles Cholmondeley (pronounced “Chumley”), the operative who thought up and planned the ruse, always at sea and always right. Their boss Colonel Johnny Bevan is played by Zoë Roberts, rather uptight and a stickler for the rules. Among Roberts’ other characters is the unpopular Ian Fleming who actually worked for this unit long before he began publishing his James Bond thrillers.

Award winner Jak Malone plays the efficient and conservative secretary to the department Hester Leggatt. Hester warns newcomer Jean Leslie (enacted by Claire-Marie Hall as a brilliant woman ahead of her time who is not content to be just one of the girls who gets tea) not to be too forward or ambitious. Whenever they are not used in a scene they return in Ben Stones’ many costumes as someone else, often in what appears to be quick changes. Stones’ unit set helps with the variety sketch vibe to the show though other pieces are brought in when needed.

Aside from introducing us to all of the main characters in Act I, we follow as the team creates a false persona for the fictional “Major Bill Martin” using the body of an anonymous corpse found on a London street. Each of the team uses his or her skills or expertise to help put together a backstory as well as fill up his wallet with pertinent items to make him believable. The first act gets us to the submarine HMS Seraph leaving the dead body in the Gulf of Cádiz, hopefully to be picked up by fishermen in Huelva, Spain, while the second act follows the many hair-raising events that follow for the MI5 operatives until the mission is deemed a success.

The music hall-style score is occasionally derivative, reminding us of songs from earlier musicals The Producers, Titanic and Billy Elliot, but entertaining nevertheless. This may be intentional as the show is a Monty Python-esque spoof John Cleese and company never wrote. While the rhyming lyrics are witty, they are sabotaged by the sound design by Mike Walker in the early part of the show so that the words are lost. Either the sound improves as the show goes on or our ears get accustomed to it so that it eventually isn’t a problem.

Operation Mincemeat, the latest British musical comedy import, makes a great deal out of its highly talented cast of five and its single unit set. Hard to belief the story is true but there are many quite famous details. Whether its humor is for you, only you can decide. If you are a devotee of Monty Python, Benny Hill, The Goon Show, and others of this ilk, you will have a ball. It not, this is probably not your cup of tea.

Operation Mincemeat (through February 15, 2026)

John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.operationbroadway.com

Running time: two hours and 35 minutes including one intermission