TONY® AND OLIVIER AWARD®-WINNING OPERATION MINCEMEAT ANNOUNCES 18TH WEST END EXTENSION INTO 2027 AS GLOBAL TOUR LAUNCHES TONIGHT
It was announced today, 16th February, that the Tony® and double Olivier Award®-winning musical Operation Mincemeat has extended for the 18th time at the West End’s Fortune Theatre, with performances now spanning a year ahead until 20th February 2027.
The news comes as Operation Mincemeat launches its world tour, beginning with a 40-week UK leg that opens tonight with two weeks at the Lowry - the venue that first encouraged the Olivier Award®-winning and Tony Award®-nominated writing team to create their extraordinary debut musical. From Salford, the production will tour across the UK before travelling on to four continents, with stops in the USA, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico and New Zealand.
Following the success of the Monday ballot, it has now expanded to include Tuesday and Saturday shows to ensure tickets get into the right hands. Tickets for Monday are priced at £53.30, and the popular fortnightly £33.80 ticket lottery continues here. The first ballot draw for the new booking period from 28th September 2026 to 20th February 2027 will take place on Monday 9th March at 2pm. Link here.
Operation Mincemeat is now playing simultaneously in London, on tour across the UK and in New York, where the Broadway production has confirmed its seventh extension at the John Golden Theatre, with performances now booking through 13th September 2026. After playing more than 1,000 performances since its inception, the original cast - David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, Tony Award® winner Jak Malone, and Claire-Marie Hall - will play their final performance on 22nd February, before handing over to an all-American cast and returning to the UK.
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 88 five-star reviews and counting, and has become the ‘Best reviewed show in West End history.’
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.
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 Supervisor and Ben Cox is Musical Director. Georgie Staight and Amy Milburn are Associate Directors and Paul Isaiah Isles is Associate Choreographer. Casting is by Pearson Casting. The extraordinary musical is written and composed by SpitLip – David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts.
In the West End, Alex Young (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Into the Woods), Danny Becker (Frozen, The Prince of Egypt), Peter McGovern (The History Boys, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery) and Roshani Abbey (Hamilton, & Juliet), joined Chlöe Hart earlier this year to form the new cast, while Jason Kajdi (Matilda international tour, Mary Poppins) joined Geri Allen, George Jennings and Maddie Jackson-Smith to form the Company.
For the UK tour, West End alumnae Christian Andrews (Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas, ITV’S D-Day 80, A Celebration to Remember), Seán Carey (The Play That Goes Wrong, BBC One’s VE Day 80, A Celebration to Remember), Charlotte Hanna-Williams (Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Bells are Ringing), and Holly Sumpton (Lovers Actually, BBC One’s VE Day 80, A Celebration to Remember) are joined by new recruit Jamie-Rose Monk (Romeo & Juliet, (the) Woman), to form the cast while Katy Ellis (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Sappho: The Poetess), Georgina Hagen (Only Fools & Horses, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Jordan Pearson (Back to the Future: The Musical, One Man, Two Guvnors), and Morgan Phillips (Babies, The History Boys) complete the company.
Since premiering at London’s New Diorama Theatre in 2019, the show been nominated for 66 awards and won 24, including Best Musical four times at the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards®, BroadwayWorld Theater Fans’ Choice Awards®, and Off West End Awards®.
On Broadway, Jak Malone won the 2025 Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, having previously taken home the Olivier Award® for the same role in 2024. His breakout performance earned seven major accolades, including the Tony, Drama Desk®, Outer Critics Circle®, Drama League®, Theatre World®, BroadwayWorld®, and Dorian Theater Awards®. Meanwhile, SpitLip received nominations for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical from the Tony Awards®, Outer Critics Circle Awards®, Drama Desk Awards®, and BroadwayWorld Theater Fans’ Choice Awards®.
Operation Mincemeat is produced in the West End, on tour, and on 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.
Comments ()