We really owe a big thank you to the Brits for helping with World War II and with Broadway.
Last night the West End hit, “Operation Mincemeat” opened here and took the stage by storm. Celebs like Jesse Eisenberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Lorna Luft, “Othello” director Kenny Leon, and Kate Capshaw were in attendance. (Kate’s husband, Steven Spielberg, has already seen the show.)
Funny? Genius? Trenchant? Just a few of the words to describe what will be a massive Tony nominee and winner in many categories this coming June.
“Operation Mincemeat’ is a musical comedy about this real life story — the Brits came up with an idea to distract Hitler from invading Sicily by faking them out and luring them to nearby Sardinia.
Like a lot of great musicals, the subject matter doesn’t seem conducive to madcap singing and dancing. But a half dozen theater pals in London wrote and act in this crazy in a small theater outside London. They were discovered, jumped to the West End, and are here now for a blitz.
By the way the five people on stage play a total of 87 different characters. When the show started last night, I was thinking ‘this is a big cast.’ And then I counted — just five, two men and three women played males, females, British and American.
The five are David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jake Malone, and Zoe Roberts. None of them look anything like their exaggerated bumbling characters, and all of them will get Tony noms. Malone already won the Olivier prize for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.
All of them contributed to the writing of the show along with Felix Hagan, who is not on stage. They wrote the book and the songs, which run from very clever to extremely moving. While Hodgson and Cummings are the so-called leads, the three supporting players are their equals in every way. At one point, Malone brings down the house with “Dear Bill,” a gorgeous ballad dedicated to the fake soldier who’s been dropped in the ocean in Spain to throw off the Germans. The song gets a standing ovation in the middle of the show!
Like Broadway’s other gem of this season, “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Operation Mincemeat” is one of the few shows of recent memory with such distinctive songs that you’ll actually remember them. Looking at their titles in the Playbill, each one immediately pops out.
Eventually in Act Two, the Brits accomplish their mission, the Germans are wiped out in Sardinia, and our gang of five has nothing left to do but celebrate. What else is left for this cast to do but put on a spectacular ending that pulls out all the stops. The ending is like “42nd St” unplugged. It’s quite an achievement.
The invitation for last night instructed us to wear “white tie” or a Naval uniform. Many dozens of Brits and even American showed up that way, mostly with rented costumes. The audience was almost as hilarious as the cast on stage. At intermission at the bar, the people toasting each other with Champagne looked like they were in a black and white TCM movie about the War!
