DEAD MAN WALKING—STRAIGHT
INTO THE THIRD REICH

A corpse, a preposterous plan, and five tireless
performers make this British spy caper an
enormously funny exercise in controlled chaos

North American Tour Company of Operation Mincemeat

Monty Python’s influence is all over Operation Mincemeat, the smash-hit musical making the first stop of its North American tour at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago, after having conquered Broadway and the West End. The debut musical from David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, a comedy quartet collectively known as SpitLip, Operation Mincemeat is a musical thriller-ish comedy about a truly strange and successful spy operation conducted by Britain in 1943 during WWII.

North American Tour Company of Operation Mincemeat

Directed by Robert Hastie, Mincemeat opens in a basement office where a group of MI5 officers have been tasked with finding a solution to a problem: the Allied Forces are planning to invade Sicily, which is a German stronghold. The problem is that they are vastly outnumbered by the Jerries, who have a hundred thousand boots on the ground. When the suggestions of the Eton-bred officers (including one Ian Fleming) are rejected, the nerd of the group, Charles Cholmondeley (Jake Bentley)—whose last name is pronounced “Chummly,” because the bloody Brits delight in that sort of thing—comes up with an idea that’s so bizarre that Ewen Montagu (Katie Kleiger), the overconfident, underintelligent de facto leader of the group, is convinced it will work. The plan involves obtaining a dead body, filling its lungs with water, disguising it as a British airman, planting fake plans involving an imminent Allied invasion of Sardinia, and letting the body wash ashore onto the beaches of Spain, which is crawling with Nazis.

A brief digression to point out that the real Ewen Montagu was decidedly not an idiot, but the tradition of mocking the public-school-educated denizens of England as pompous prats with more bluster than brains is a long-standing tradition in British comedy.

A second (briefer) digression to clarify that in the UK the term “public school” conveys the opposite impression than it does Stateside.

Having convinced their boss, Johnny Bevan (Mariah Copeland), that the plan will work, Montagu assembles a small team that includes a formidable administrator, Hester Leggatt (Luke Anthony Neville), as well as a young secretary, Jean Leslie (Erin Ramirez), because they’re English and, well, somebody needs to make the tea.

North American Tour Company of Operation Mincemeat

In keeping with the comedy-troupe ethos, the five actors play all the different roles—over 80 of them—in the show, switching between them at warp speed thanks to an extraordinarily creative set and costumes from Ben Stones. Director Hastie keeps the pace furious, occasionally too much so—I’m sure I missed several jokes. There’s no holding for laughs here. But the pacing is crucial to this sort of show, and missing some of the jokes only gives you an excuse to go see it again.

North American Tour Company of Operation Mincemeat

Expectations are key to how Operation Mincemeat will hit you. With two exceptions, the characters are fairly one-dimensional, and that’s okay because, delightfully daffy plot aside, the jokes are the point here, and my word, there are a lot of them, landing with a shockingly high percentage of success. And in keeping with the characterizations, while all five actors are excellent, Ramirez as Jean Leslie and (especially) Neville as Hester Leggatt make the strongest impression. It’s a glorious part, and Neville’s big solo, “Dear Bill,” is an acting and vocal showcase for the ages (the show’s sole Tony went to Jak Malone, who originated Hester on Broadway). It’s also the only moment until the very last bit of the finale where the show allows itself to get emotional, and it brings the house down. Then it’s back to the madcap mayhem and the insanely catchy songs—I haven’t been able to get the chorus of “Born to Lead” out of my head since I saw the show, and believe you me, I’ve tried. I’m humming it right now, in fact.

I have a few quibbles with Mincemeat: it could be a little shorter; Ian Fleming is a wasted opportunity; there’s a subplot with Montagu that doesn’t click until the finale redeems it somewhat; Leggatt’s romantic plotline seems shoehorned in; and the second-act opener, “Das Übermensch,” didn’t work for me at all, on any level. But my biggest complaint is an odd one: there is a scrappy quality to the show that I absolutely adore, and that extends to its band, which is composed of just four musicians, led by Ben Cox. I understand that a Broadway musical is expected to be lavish (unless it’s directed by John Doyle), but as good as the production is, I suspect I would have enjoyed it even more were it scaled down a bit. I’m certain that I’m in a very small minority here, though, and in any case, I’m sure more productions of Operation Mincemeat will be forthcoming in the future. How could they not?

I can’t wait to see what SpitLip does next.

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photos by Matthew Murphy

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
national tour
CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.
ends on October 11, 2026 in Chicago
for tickets ($40–$150), visit Broadway in Chicago
tour continues; for dates and cities, visit Operation Mincemeat

for more shows, visit Theater in Chicago

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