Just a few weeks after the debut of the new cast, the West End premiere run of the award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat has been extended for a ninth time with performances at the Fortune Theatre now planned through to 25 January 2025.
Reacting to the news, creators David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts said: “We’re delighted, proud and only a bit jealous of the amazing reaction to our new fantastic cast – and so happy that as a result, they will be delighting crowds into 2025. Sangria!”
The new-look cast is made up of Emily Barber, Chlöe Hart, Christian Andrews, Seán Carey and Claire-Marie Hall, while George Jennings and Jonty Peach have joined Holly Sumpton and Geri Allen to form the company.
After the success of the Monday ballot, which was introduced to ensure tickets get into the right hands, this has now been expanded to include Tuesday and Saturday shows. Monday ticket prices remain frozen at £39.50, and the popular fortnightly £25 ticket lottery continues (the next two draws are on 3 and 17 June). The first ballot draw for the new booking period from 18 November 2024 to 25 January 2025 will take place on 12 June at 6pm.
The critic and audience-pleasing show began sold-out preview performances at the Fortune Theatre on 29 March last year. The show’s West End debut run follows on from five sold-out development runs in London at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and Southwark Playhouse in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and an extended run at the Riverside Studios last summer.
Described as Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Operation Mincemeat was co-commissioned by the New Diorama Theatre in London and The Lowry in Salford. The show went on to win The Stage Debut Award for Best Composer/Lyricist and the Off-West End Award for Best Company Ensemble and was listed in The Observer’s Top 10 shows of 2019. The musical is written and composed by the 2023 Stage Debut Award ‘Best creative West End debut’ nominated SpitLip – Cumming, Hagan, Hodgson and Roberts.
Presented in the West End by Avalon in association with SpitLip, the innovative take on a strange but true story of a secret mission in the Second World War, the production is directed by 2023 Olivier Award-winner Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge).
The creative team for the Fortune Theatre performances also includes Jenny Arnold (Jerry Springer: The Opera, National Theatre) who continues as choreographer alongside creatives from the Standing at the Sky’s Edge team including 2023 Olivier Award-nominated Ben Stones 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 and Olivier Award-nominated Steve Sidwell (Beautiful: The Musical, Broadway/Aldwych Theatre) is the orchestrator and vocal arranger, the associate director is Georgie Staight and the associate choreographer is Paul Isaiah Isles.
Angela Thomas
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