**** Highly Recommended I really enjoyed Operation Mincemeat playing at the CIBC Theatre through October 11th. It had me laughing from the first minute. It’s a very British comedy – in a Monty Python/Benny Hill kind of way. The music is lively, the lyrics are clever and kind of tricky, and the cast of five is really quite brilliant. This one’s a must-see. 4 BIG Spotlights
Before the show, a friend told me she’d seen the movie and it wasn’t funny at all. She said the premise was kind of quirky but the true story was about a serious military operation. I didn’t know what to think after that, since the show is advertised as a comedy! Don’t worry – It was a serious movie but someone thought it could be a comedy and here we are!
The cast: Johnny Bevan & others (Mariah Copeland); Ewen Montagu & others (Katie Kleiger); Hester Leggatt & others (Luke Antony Neville); Jean Leslie & others (Erin Ramirez); Charles Cholmondeley & others (Jake Bentley Young). These five actors change characters almost as quickly as they change jackets/hats.
In 1943, the Allied Forces really needed to get the Germans out of Sicily. Someone in the Admiralty decided that MI5 needed to figure out a way to convince the Germans the Allies were going after Sardinia, not Sicily.
At MI5, nobody really had a plan, although they all jockeyed for position. Only nerdly Charlie Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley) had a plan. When Montagu grabbed his folder, he discovered it was incredibly detailed – sort of like an Ian Fleming plot.
Charlie’s plan, dubbed Operation Mincemeat, involved placing a dead body carrying false invasion plans into the hands of the Germans. The gang decided they couldn’t just put any body ashore, it had to have a back story. So they gave him a name, a rank and a fiancée named Pam.
I noticed the sound was a little off, making it difficult to hear. Otherwise, a brilliantly funny show.
Operation Mincemeat was written by SpitLip (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Hatasha Hodgson and Zoȅ Roberts), directed by Fobert Hastie and choreographed by Jenny Arnold. It opened on Broadway in 2025.
Orchestra: Conductor/Keys - Nick Williams; Associate Conductor/Keys – Emily Croome; Electric Bass – Marc Hogan; Drums – Jeremy Wisler; Music Coordinator – Kristy Norter
Operation Mincemeat runs through October 11th at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe, Chicago. Running time is 2 hours, 35 minutes, with an intermission. Performances: Tuesdays at 7:00 pm, Wednesdays at 1:00 & 7:00 pm, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 & 7:30 pm and Sundays at 1:00 pm. Tickets range from $40.00 - $135.00. FYI www.BroadwayInChicago.com.