A Review of Operation Mincemeat on Broadway

Operation Mincemeat is a comedic historical musical about a deception campaign in World War 2 conducted by the British against the Germans to invade Sicily. The musical (which is based on a movie which is based on a book) consists of 20 musical numbers and real historical figures whose eccentric personalities make for engaging dynamics.

The story of Operation Mincemeat is already compelling. The British took a homeless dead person, dressed him in a British uniform, gave him fake documents, and left him for the Germans to find. This story was augmented by the strong acting and singing. All roles were played by only five actors who seamlessly switched characters and costumes within the same scene, adjusting their body language and accents as they jumped from role to role. I attended the performance on July 26, at which three of the five actors were understudies: Charles Cholmondeley was played by Robert Ariza, Jean Leslie was played by Lexi Rabadi, Ewen Montagu was played by Gerianne Perez. They were so good that we didn’t even realize they weren’t the primary actors until we looked through the playbill at intermission.

The musical also contains heavy emotional moments that land straight in the heart thanks to the juxtaposition of comedy and serious topics. Most of the songs are upbeat and energetic, thus making songs that are tonally different stand out. A great example of this is the song “Dear Bill,” which added such depth to the character of Hester Leggatt.

Overall, this was one of the best Broadway musicals I have ever seen and is definitely one I would watch again.