Operation Mincemeat is totally worth all its hype

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Earlier this week, after an unexpectedly dark, miserably rainy day had kept me indoors, my son North and I ventured into the Loop to see the Olivier and Tony Award winning musical Operation Mincemeat, which tells the true story of an MI-5 operation that faked the Germans into believing that the Allies were going to invade Sardinia instead of Sicily. They did this by dressing up a transient’s corpse as an Air Force major, creating an elaborate false identity for him, and sending him off to wash up on the Spanish coast along with falsified documents outlining the alleged plans the Brits had.

The men who created this sham in real life were named Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley (the latter, in true British style, is pronounced “Chumley”) and the musical of their exploits is hilarious and wildly entertaining. It’s a lively five-person show that is clearly exhausting for the actors with all of its choreography and the always-on-stage nature of their multiple characterizations, so much so that it requires an extra-long twenty-minute intermission that absolutely no one in the audience so much as questioned. (The whole show lasts 2:35.) One reviewer of the original British production said that he had interviewed an audience member before the show who had seen it seven times. “I wondered why anyone would see the same show seven times,” he wrote. “Now I know.”

The musical’s book, music and lyrics are credited to the foursome of David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, and they have created a consummate piece of musical theatre that is often hilarious, occasionally poignant, and historically fascinating. Its tiny cast, each playing multiple roles of both sexes, consists of Mariah Copeland, Katie Kleiger, Luke Anthony Neville, Erin Ramirez, and Jake Bentley Young. (My son and I had a conversation on the way home about whether the show would fall victim to the anti-drag laws recently enacted in several red states. Sadly, we decided that it would.)

The actors perform on a set by Ben Stones that significantly cuts down the space of the stage, creating the claustrophobic interior of a small office, which is where much of the action takes place. Using scenery, lights, and exciting choreography from Jenny Arnold, the stage is able to adapt for more open scenes, and director Robert Hastie keeps the whole thing flying along. About the only complaint I had was that when the music turned to rock, it did become difficult to understand some of the lyrics at times. (Otherwise, Mike Walker’s sound design is, well, sound.)

The five actors are stellar. Kleiger, who mostly portrays Montagu, gives him a self-absorbed, chauvinistic, entitled, smarmy aura that suits the man well. He is a man with secrets, and it is easy to believe a rumor that he might be working with the enemy. But Kleiger makes it clear that he is also a man who sincerely believes he is “born to lead,” one who has the outgoing personality and rule-breaking persona that can indeed make things happen.

He could not be more of a contrast with Cholmondeley. Young’s portrayal of this Air Force officer (more a scientist than a spy) probably keys itself on a single line from the musical’s first song in which he proclaims that his most significant achievement is that he “discovered a new breed of trout.” A true nerd, he is extremely shy and more interested in insects and newts than in spy craft, though it is that very scientific bent that allows him to envision the titular operation. When Montagu’s own pitch to the boss is rejected, he quickly latches onto Cholmondeley to be able to help make Mincemeat happen.

Copeland’s main character is that boss, Colonel Johnny Bevan, and she is dynamic as the man who has to give the nod to this “insane” plan while severely distrusting Montegu. She also plays fellow spy Ian Fleming, who has a developing idea for a well-dressed spy who likes martinis shaken and not stirred, and the less-than-inspiring Vice-Consul to Spain, Francis Haselden, who is tasked with making sure the plan comes off at the other end. As Haselden, Copeland is challenged to create a bumbling politician who is pretty much the diametric opposite of Bevan, and she does both brilliantly.

Ramirez mostly portrays proto-feminist Jean Leslie, a new assistant to the female support team headed by Hester Leggatt (Neville). As Jean, Ramirez insinuates herself onto the team running the operation, impressing them with her chutzpah and good ideas, all the while bemoaning the minimized roles played by women in MI-5. Jean is, however, a very positive and sympathetic character, especially juxtaposed with the more straitlaced Hester. (Neville also plays Hester’s opposite, an amoral underworld character named Spilsbury, from whom Montegu procures the body they need.)

The songs here are clever and fun, especially the opening number “Born to Lead” and the punk rock Nazi dance number, “Das Übermensch,” that opens Act Two. But the single most memorable number has to be the tender ballad “Dear Bill,” in which Hester, to provide an example of a love letter to a soldier, uses her own sad romantic history to teach the inexperienced Jean what such a letter would sound like. (Jean’s own attempt, the stiff and didactic “Love Is a Bird,” is wonderfully cringe.) All at once, the walls that Neville has erected around his main character crash down and we see who Hester really is.

Operation Mincemeat has been hyped incessantly for over a year, and it absolutely lives up to the hype. This is a thoroughly entertaining history lesson in musical comedy form, and it is indeed worth seeing seven times. But at least see it once; you’ll be glad you did.

Operation Mincemeat is a Broadway in Chicago production now playing at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W Monroe, Chicago through October 11. Check the website for specific dates, times, and tickets. Find more information about current plays in our recommendations and at theatreinchicago.com.