Best Director Olivier Award 2023 nominee Robert Hastie will direct the West End transfer run of award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat.
After providing directorial support for the musical’s Riverside Studios run, Hastie (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, National Theatre) will take charge of the production which begins preview performances at the Fortune Theatre on 29 March 2023 ahead of an opening night on 9 May.
Presented in the West End by Avalon in association with SpitLip, this innovative take on a strange but true story of a secret mission in the Second World War was created by cast members David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zöe Roberts along with Felix Hagan.
The creative team for the Fortune Theatre performances will also include Jenny Arnold (Jerry Springer: The Opera, National Theatre) who will continue 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, Olivier Award-nominated Steve Sidwell (Beautiful: The Musical, Broadway/Aldwych Theatre) is the orchestrator and vocal arranger and Georgie Staight joins Robert Hastie as associate director.
Commenting on his involvement in the production, Hastie said: “I’m a big fan of SpitLip’s work, and fell in love with Operation Mincemeat from the start. I’m thrilled to have been working with the team to help develop the show since its run in Hammersmith, and we’re all looking forward to the next stage of its evolution as we share this joyous story with the West End.
“I’m delighted to be getting back into the room with SpitLip and the company. They’re everything you hope a gang like that will be – innovative, creative, collaborative, daring, excellent taste in rehearsal snacks.”
Welcoming the high-powered additions to the creative team, SpitLip said: “We are staggered and amazed at the amount of talent now propping up our sweaty, gnarled bodies. The light from their reflected glory is absolutely blinding and we plan to bathe in it for as long as physically possible. West End, let’s go!”
Following sold-out runs at the Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studios, the 2023 Off-West End Best Musical award-winning cast of David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone and Zöe Roberts will play the Covent Garden venue up to 8 July.
Understudies joining the previously announced cast will be Seán Carey (returning from the Hammersmith Studios run), Geri Allan, Christian Andrews and Holly Sumpton.
Described as Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Operation Mincemeat was commissioned by the New Diorama Theatre in London where it played its first sold-out run in 2019. Co-commissioned by The Lowry in Salford, Operation Mincemeat won 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 played its first sold-out run in The Little at the Southwark Playhouse in 2020.
Angela Thomas
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