During the Broadway-themed episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Operation Mincemeat co-creator and star Natasha Hodgson joined the show to discuss the success of the new musical. "We are so grateful and happy to be in New York," Hodgson gushed. "It's just been such a glorious response to the show. It's just a generous community...and the audiences have just been so overwhelmingly lovely."
She went on to explain the genesis of the show, which was a hit on the West End before moving across the pond. "I actually wrote the show with my friends from college," said Hodgson, explaining that they all got their start in comedy writing. "[We said], 'What if we tried to write a musical together?'"
The musical features a cast of 5, all of whom are making their Broadway debuts in the production. Darren Criss, who was also on the episode, hyped up the star and the production. "It's fabulous to see friends succeeding on Broadway. I couldn't be more pleased for your success and you are excellent in the show," he told Hodgson.
Directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway on February 15 and is now playing at the Golden Theatre. It has received 4 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
In Operation Mincemeat, it's 1943, and the Allied Forces are on the ropes. Luckily, they've got a trick up their sleeve. Well, not up their sleeve, per se, but rather inside the pocket of a stolen corpse. Equal parts farce, thriller, and Ian Fleming-style spy caper (with an assist from Mr. Fleming himself), Operation Mincemeat tells the wildly improbable and hilarious true story of the covert operation that turned the tide of WWII.
Starring in Operation Mincemeat are David Cumming, Claire-Marie Hall, Natasha Hodgson, Olivier Award-winner Jak Malone, and Zoë Roberts, who have reprised their original, acclaimed performances for the musical's Broadway (American) premiere.
The decision to write the musical was the last roll of the dice from the quartet of young British creatives after years of performing sketch shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and echoes the journey of Beyond the Fringe from the world-famous quartet Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1960 before moving to the Fortune Theatre and later to the Golden in 1962.