2025 TONY® AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST MUSICAL & 2024 OLIVIER AWARD® WINNER FOR BEST NEW MUSICAL
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
ANNOUNCES A LANDMARK WORLD TOUR!
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
UNITED KINGDOM
AND
AUSTRALIA
AND
CANADA
AND
CHINA
AND
MEXICO
AND
NEW ZEALAND
BEGINNING IN 2026
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Mon 31st August 2026 - Sat 5th September 2026
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
ANNOUNCES A LANDMARK WORLD TOUR!
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
UNITED KINGDOM
AND
AUSTRALIA
AND
CANADA
AND
CHINA
AND
MEXICO
AND
NEW ZEALAND
BEGINNING IN 2026
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Mon 31st August 2026 - Sat 5th September 2026
“A little show with a very big future.”
Variety
Variety
INTERVIEW
Who could have imagined that the most uproarious musical in years would find its zany inspiration from … James Bond?
“We just had been devouring every kind of source we could for telling the story of ‘Operation Mincemeat,’” Felix Hagan recalled, and we'd come to this realisation that it chimed every macabre, sick, twisted bell in all our horrible heads.”
Hagan is one of the members of SplitLip, the madcap comedy collective that in 2017 came up with a wild premise: turning the tale of an improbably brash British wartime escapade, into an improbably brash British musical. And that what would seal the deal early on was that one of the real-life characters in the tale of this mind-boggling gambit — a major World War II turning point for the Allies — was none other than the author-creator of Agent 007.
“By miles, the funniest thing that we could think of at the start was that Ian Fleming was involved,” Hagan noted.
And off Hagan went with the other SplitLip members — Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts and David Cumming on a creative binge that would eventually lead to London’s West End, and then to Broadway.
Now, having earned critics’ raves (87 five-star reviews and counting) and Olivier awards along the way, Operation Mincemeat, directed by Robert Hastie, heads out on its first U.K. tour. It begins, aptly enough, on Feb. 16 at The Lowry in Salford — the theatre that hosted its very first scratch performance.
To Roberts, who along with her SplitLip partners collaborated on the show’s book and score, the surprise and pleasure of the project has been its multi-generational appeal. “There’s something really joyful in the success of ‘Mincemeat,’” she observed, in a joint interview with her fellow SplitLip-sters, “and that has been the breadth of the age ranges, the backgrounds, the genders who enjoy it, and that, you know, that's great.”
For those who have yet to sample “Mincemeat,” a brief tutorial: Five actors play more than 80 roles in the musical, about an MI5 plan to fool the Nazis about where an Allied invasion of Italy was to occur. The story, in fact, has all the earmarks of a plot hatched by Fleming himself, who was an MI5 operative at the time.
That plot involves planting misleading invasion plans on the body of an Allied pilot who supposedly has crashed into the sea off the coast of Nazi-infested Spain. Which means the MI5 spymasters must procure a body, find a way to plop it in Spanish waters with the fake plans, wait for the Nazis to discover the body — and hope they fall for the ruse.
Still with me? The story is demonstrably true, down to the fact that the Germans were completely duped, leading them to move their forces to the wrong site of the supposed invasion. This paved the way for the Allies to launch, virtually unimpeded, a campaign to recapture Italy.
Of course, the musical is a witty riff on this beguilingly clever bit of spycraft. But the emotions it rouses, undergirding the ordeal of World War II, go deeper for British audiences. “For everyone that went to school here, that's something that they would have covered,” said Christian Andrews, who plays the prim, kindly secretary Hester (and other characters) in the U.K. tour. “My great auntie loved telling us about the war — I think she must have been like 16 or something when World War Two started. And yeah, I adored sitting down and listening to her.”
It is the essence of that idea, of gathering round to be regaled by a mesmerising bit of history, that “Operation Mincemeat” bottles so well. And all the more astonishing, because the SplitLip posse had never written a musical before.
“A few weeks ago, one of the wardrobe assistants, Billy, said to me, ‘Did you know that “Sail on, Boys” is a ‘charm song’?” said Hodgson, who plays Ewen Montague, the devilishly devious head of the MI5 team. And I was like, ‘What's a charm song’? He's like, ‘What do you mean? It's a type of song in musical theatre.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm being taught musical theatre in my own Broadway show by one of the wardrobe assistants!’
As Roberts noted, the group chose this narratively-rich source material “because we wanted to do something with a bit more commercial appeal” than some of the weirder, cabaret-style work through which SplitLip had gained a cult following. But when it came to writing the score, the focus became on mining various musical genres, from period ballads to contemporary hip-hop, for the humour or pathos the scene required.
“We approached every number completely with a clean slate as to what is the correct musical palette for this one song,” said Cumming, who originated the role of Charles Cholmondeley, the nerdy MI5 conceiver of the subterfuge. “And so we were less thinking about who's going to be watching it; we were like, what does the story require in this moment, for this moment to be the best it possibly can be?”
This was certainly true for what has become an emotional high point of the production, when Hester, played to Tony and Olivier-winning acclaim by Jak Malone, strums the audience’s heartstrings in the plaintive memory song, “Dear Bill.” The number is an instant theatre classic, revealing the story of Hester’s love for — well, why spoil the three-hanky moment?
“I had the privilege of seeing Jak do it before I touched the material,” recalled Andrews, who understudied before taking over the role in the production still running in the West End’s Fortune Theatre. “So the sense of who this version of the woman is was quite clear to me as a blueprint from Jak. And I think I was actually a bit naive as to how hard it is because of how brilliantly Jak did it.”
Alongside Andrews, Holly Sumpton, Seán Carey, and Charlotte Hanna-Williams return from the West End production to reprise their roles in the touring cast, joined by new recruit Jamie-Rose Monk. Audiences across the country will now be able to savour the SplitLip treatment of a singular slice of British history. Come to think of it, by means of virtuosic farce and an uncanny mastery of both gender-switching role-playing and the art of the quick-change, SplitLip seems to have been singularly destined for this assignment.
“We love this story,” Hodgson said. “What felt funny about it, and what felt true about it, and what felt difficult and naughty.” The musical indeed ricochets from one emotional tone to another, from moments detailing little human absurdities during wartime, to evocations of the monumental human toll.
Or as Hodgson put it, speaking as much about life as about “Operation Mincemeat”: “Things can go from being funny to tragic in a room, every day of your life.”
Interview: By Peter Marks, The Washington Post's former chief theatre critic
“We just had been devouring every kind of source we could for telling the story of ‘Operation Mincemeat,’” Felix Hagan recalled, and we'd come to this realisation that it chimed every macabre, sick, twisted bell in all our horrible heads.”
Hagan is one of the members of SplitLip, the madcap comedy collective that in 2017 came up with a wild premise: turning the tale of an improbably brash British wartime escapade, into an improbably brash British musical. And that what would seal the deal early on was that one of the real-life characters in the tale of this mind-boggling gambit — a major World War II turning point for the Allies — was none other than the author-creator of Agent 007.
“By miles, the funniest thing that we could think of at the start was that Ian Fleming was involved,” Hagan noted.
And off Hagan went with the other SplitLip members — Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts and David Cumming on a creative binge that would eventually lead to London’s West End, and then to Broadway.
Now, having earned critics’ raves (87 five-star reviews and counting) and Olivier awards along the way, Operation Mincemeat, directed by Robert Hastie, heads out on its first U.K. tour. It begins, aptly enough, on Feb. 16 at The Lowry in Salford — the theatre that hosted its very first scratch performance.
To Roberts, who along with her SplitLip partners collaborated on the show’s book and score, the surprise and pleasure of the project has been its multi-generational appeal. “There’s something really joyful in the success of ‘Mincemeat,’” she observed, in a joint interview with her fellow SplitLip-sters, “and that has been the breadth of the age ranges, the backgrounds, the genders who enjoy it, and that, you know, that's great.”
For those who have yet to sample “Mincemeat,” a brief tutorial: Five actors play more than 80 roles in the musical, about an MI5 plan to fool the Nazis about where an Allied invasion of Italy was to occur. The story, in fact, has all the earmarks of a plot hatched by Fleming himself, who was an MI5 operative at the time.
That plot involves planting misleading invasion plans on the body of an Allied pilot who supposedly has crashed into the sea off the coast of Nazi-infested Spain. Which means the MI5 spymasters must procure a body, find a way to plop it in Spanish waters with the fake plans, wait for the Nazis to discover the body — and hope they fall for the ruse.
Still with me? The story is demonstrably true, down to the fact that the Germans were completely duped, leading them to move their forces to the wrong site of the supposed invasion. This paved the way for the Allies to launch, virtually unimpeded, a campaign to recapture Italy.
Of course, the musical is a witty riff on this beguilingly clever bit of spycraft. But the emotions it rouses, undergirding the ordeal of World War II, go deeper for British audiences. “For everyone that went to school here, that's something that they would have covered,” said Christian Andrews, who plays the prim, kindly secretary Hester (and other characters) in the U.K. tour. “My great auntie loved telling us about the war — I think she must have been like 16 or something when World War Two started. And yeah, I adored sitting down and listening to her.”
It is the essence of that idea, of gathering round to be regaled by a mesmerising bit of history, that “Operation Mincemeat” bottles so well. And all the more astonishing, because the SplitLip posse had never written a musical before.
“A few weeks ago, one of the wardrobe assistants, Billy, said to me, ‘Did you know that “Sail on, Boys” is a ‘charm song’?” said Hodgson, who plays Ewen Montague, the devilishly devious head of the MI5 team. And I was like, ‘What's a charm song’? He's like, ‘What do you mean? It's a type of song in musical theatre.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm being taught musical theatre in my own Broadway show by one of the wardrobe assistants!’
As Roberts noted, the group chose this narratively-rich source material “because we wanted to do something with a bit more commercial appeal” than some of the weirder, cabaret-style work through which SplitLip had gained a cult following. But when it came to writing the score, the focus became on mining various musical genres, from period ballads to contemporary hip-hop, for the humour or pathos the scene required.
“We approached every number completely with a clean slate as to what is the correct musical palette for this one song,” said Cumming, who originated the role of Charles Cholmondeley, the nerdy MI5 conceiver of the subterfuge. “And so we were less thinking about who's going to be watching it; we were like, what does the story require in this moment, for this moment to be the best it possibly can be?”
This was certainly true for what has become an emotional high point of the production, when Hester, played to Tony and Olivier-winning acclaim by Jak Malone, strums the audience’s heartstrings in the plaintive memory song, “Dear Bill.” The number is an instant theatre classic, revealing the story of Hester’s love for — well, why spoil the three-hanky moment?
“I had the privilege of seeing Jak do it before I touched the material,” recalled Andrews, who understudied before taking over the role in the production still running in the West End’s Fortune Theatre. “So the sense of who this version of the woman is was quite clear to me as a blueprint from Jak. And I think I was actually a bit naive as to how hard it is because of how brilliantly Jak did it.”
Alongside Andrews, Holly Sumpton, Seán Carey, and Charlotte Hanna-Williams return from the West End production to reprise their roles in the touring cast, joined by new recruit Jamie-Rose Monk. Audiences across the country will now be able to savour the SplitLip treatment of a singular slice of British history. Come to think of it, by means of virtuosic farce and an uncanny mastery of both gender-switching role-playing and the art of the quick-change, SplitLip seems to have been singularly destined for this assignment.
“We love this story,” Hodgson said. “What felt funny about it, and what felt true about it, and what felt difficult and naughty.” The musical indeed ricochets from one emotional tone to another, from moments detailing little human absurdities during wartime, to evocations of the monumental human toll.
Or as Hodgson put it, speaking as much about life as about “Operation Mincemeat”: “Things can go from being funny to tragic in a room, every day of your life.”
Interview: By Peter Marks, The Washington Post's former chief theatre critic
New York, NY (May 13, 2025) – It was announced today at the entrance to the United Nations in New York City that the Olivier Award®-winning and Tony Award® nominated Best Musical, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical is launching a globe-spanning World Tour.
The world tour begins on February 16, 2026, at The Lowry in Manchester, UK—the venue that first encouraged the Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated writing team to create their debut musical, co-commissioned the production, and supported its early development, including hosting its first-ever scratch performance in 2017.
This announcement comes after the production’s third Broadway extension through February 15, 2026, and its fifteenth West End extension through February 28, 2026.
In Operation Mincemeat, it’s 1943, and the Allied Forces are on the ropes. Luckily, they’ve got a trick up their sleeve. Well, not up their sleeve, per se, but rather inside the pocket of a stolen corpse. Equal parts farce, thriller, and Ian Fleming-style spy caper (with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself), Operation Mincemeat tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII.
SpitLip, the musical’s writers and composers, commented:
"Broadway opened the literal world to us, and we couldn't be more grateful for every unpredictable twist of this astonishing journey. Most of all, we wish to thank the audiences who continue to carry this show with love and enthusiasm. Operation Mincemeat reminds us that in uncertain times, the bonds between allies are more important than ever - and that message feels especially relevant as we consider all the great nations in which our show will now have the opportunity to play. This show continues to be the adventure of a lifetime, and we're wildly excited about what's to come.”
Tickets for the UK leg go on pre-sale June 5 at 10am GMT, with general sale starting June 6 at 10am GMT. For full details and tickets, visit operationmincemeat.com. The tour will travel across the U.K. for 40 weeks.
Tour dates for other territories and casting details will be announced. Fans can sign up to the mailing list to be the first to hear when the show lands in a city near them. Watch this space for news on new countries and continents.
Directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway on February 15 and is now playing at the historic Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street).
Starring in Operation Mincemeat are David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Olivier Award-winner Jak Malone, and Zoë Roberts, who have reprised their original, acclaimed performances for the musical’s Broadway (American) premiere.
The decision to write the musical 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.
Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny (and tiny-budgeted) production at London’s New Diorama Theatre. 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 May 9, 2023, at the Fortune Theatre, where it has since received 74 five-star reviews and counting, becoming ‘the Best Reviewed Show in West End History.’ Now in its third sold-out year, the show continues to play to standing-room-only crowds and has built one of London’s most passionate fanbases, affectionately known as the "Mincefluencers."
Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 64 awards since opening at the 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in 2019, winning 13, including Best Musical 3 times, from the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards, and Off-West End Awards. On Broadway, the show is nominated for 4 Tony Awards® in 2025, including Best Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Malone, who previously won the Olivier Award® in the same category. The production has also received nominations for Outstanding Production of a Musical at the Drama League Awards, Outstanding New Broadway Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, Best Musical at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards, and Favourite New Musical at the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards.
SpitLip – Cumming, Felix Hagan, Hodgson, and Roberts –are nominated for Best Book and Best Score at the Tony Awards®, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards. They have also received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Book of a Musical and Outstanding Lyrics. The Broadway cast has been nominated for Best Ensemble at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards. Malone is additionally nominated for a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama League Award, and recently won a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. Cumming, Hodgson, Roberts, and Hall have each received nominations at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards, with Cumming also recognised with two Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominations.
West End Extension tickets are available from OperationMincemeat.com and Broadway tickets OperationBroadway.com
Operation Mincemeat is produced on Broadway and in the West End 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.
The world tour begins on February 16, 2026, at The Lowry in Manchester, UK—the venue that first encouraged the Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated writing team to create their debut musical, co-commissioned the production, and supported its early development, including hosting its first-ever scratch performance in 2017.
This announcement comes after the production’s third Broadway extension through February 15, 2026, and its fifteenth West End extension through February 28, 2026.
In Operation Mincemeat, it’s 1943, and the Allied Forces are on the ropes. Luckily, they’ve got a trick up their sleeve. Well, not up their sleeve, per se, but rather inside the pocket of a stolen corpse. Equal parts farce, thriller, and Ian Fleming-style spy caper (with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself), Operation Mincemeat tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII.
SpitLip, the musical’s writers and composers, commented:
"Broadway opened the literal world to us, and we couldn't be more grateful for every unpredictable twist of this astonishing journey. Most of all, we wish to thank the audiences who continue to carry this show with love and enthusiasm. Operation Mincemeat reminds us that in uncertain times, the bonds between allies are more important than ever - and that message feels especially relevant as we consider all the great nations in which our show will now have the opportunity to play. This show continues to be the adventure of a lifetime, and we're wildly excited about what's to come.”
Tickets for the UK leg go on pre-sale June 5 at 10am GMT, with general sale starting June 6 at 10am GMT. For full details and tickets, visit operationmincemeat.com. The tour will travel across the U.K. for 40 weeks.
Tour dates for other territories and casting details will be announced. Fans can sign up to the mailing list to be the first to hear when the show lands in a city near them. Watch this space for news on new countries and continents.
Directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway on February 15 and is now playing at the historic Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street).
Starring in Operation Mincemeat are David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Olivier Award-winner Jak Malone, and Zoë Roberts, who have reprised their original, acclaimed performances for the musical’s Broadway (American) premiere.
The decision to write the musical 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.
Operation Mincemeat began as a tiny (and tiny-budgeted) production at London’s New Diorama Theatre. 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 May 9, 2023, at the Fortune Theatre, where it has since received 74 five-star reviews and counting, becoming ‘the Best Reviewed Show in West End History.’ Now in its third sold-out year, the show continues to play to standing-room-only crowds and has built one of London’s most passionate fanbases, affectionately known as the "Mincefluencers."
Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 64 awards since opening at the 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in 2019, winning 13, including Best Musical 3 times, from the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards, and Off-West End Awards. On Broadway, the show is nominated for 4 Tony Awards® in 2025, including Best Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Malone, who previously won the Olivier Award® in the same category. The production has also received nominations for Outstanding Production of a Musical at the Drama League Awards, Outstanding New Broadway Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards, Best Musical at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards, and Favourite New Musical at the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards.
SpitLip – Cumming, Felix Hagan, Hodgson, and Roberts –are nominated for Best Book and Best Score at the Tony Awards®, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards. They have also received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Book of a Musical and Outstanding Lyrics. The Broadway cast has been nominated for Best Ensemble at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards. Malone is additionally nominated for a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama League Award, and recently won a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. Cumming, Hodgson, Roberts, and Hall have each received nominations at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans' Choice Awards, with Cumming also recognised with two Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominations.
West End Extension tickets are available from OperationMincemeat.com and Broadway tickets OperationBroadway.com
Operation Mincemeat is produced on Broadway and in the West End 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.