Operation Mincemeat’s new cast keep the magic alive and bring a tear to the audience’s eye in World War 2 musical
CHANGING the cast in a hit musical has the possibility of ruing the magic that has already been created.
Thankfully, the brains behind Operation Mincemeat have chosen the right people to take over the roles.
The hilarious musical romps through the bizarre true story of MI5 using a dead body to convince the Germans that they weren’t about to invade Sicily in 1943.
But when you buy your cadaver from a conman and trust a collection of the barmiest minds to pull it off, things are bound to go wrong.
The music and book were created by the comedy group SpitLip – David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts.
It’s similar in vibe to Hamilton with fast-paced music and rapping – all done by the five-person strong cast who switch characters as often as they change props.
Stepping into the limelight as Jonny Bevan is Chloe Hart, with Christian Andrews taking over Hester Leggat, and Emily Barber as Ewan Montague.
They join original cast members Sean Carey, who has stepped up as Charles Cholmondeley, and Claire-Marie Hall as pool typist Jean.
No one looses a step as they fling out gag after gag, leaving their audience in hysterics.
Andrews dominates the show with his stunning performance as Hester. Although it may be his height that keeps him centre of my view.
He is able to embody a middle-aged woman with absolute ease and when he swaps to another of the character that he plays, you forget he’s already been on stage.
And when he’s taking on Hester’s tender ballad Dear Bill, which is about writing to a loved one during a war, there isn’t a dry eye in the house.
Barber’s Montague is a little less swashbuckling than Natasha Hodgson, but still manges leave you feeling charmed and repulsed at the same time.
And Hart’s Jonny is hilariously exasperated by his underlings who seem to constantly create more problems than they solve.
Contrastingly, Carey’s Charles is endearing and leaves you rooting for his ridiculous plan to work – and spoiler, it really did.
This might be my second time watching the historical production, but I still find myself struggling to breathe thanks to laughing so much.
Operation Mincemeat’s West End invasion is going well, and I hope it stays that way.
Operation Mincemeat
Fortune Theatre, London
★★★★★