Sony Masterworks Broadway releases the Original Cast Recording to Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical. The show is currently running at the Fortune Theatre in London’s West End and features new music written and composed by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, who form SpitLip. The year is 1943 and we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler...?

A musical with a wonderfully dark sense of humour, Operation Mincemeat tells the true story of a successful WWII British deception operation to deflect from the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily.

From traditional musical fare ('Making a Man"), to more modern songs ('Das Übermensch') Operation Mincemeat has plenty of music variety to ensure there's something for everyones tastes. This is one of the things that really stood out for me. From one song to the next, you never know what you're going to be confronted with. The diversity on offer helps to keep the musical fresh and exciting.

And, even if you're not familiar with the original story, there's enough dialogue in the lyrics to at least give you a fair idea of what is going on. The end result is a wonderfully compelling musical that has a timeless charm running through the songs.

This is an essential purchase for those who've experienced the show, but there's more than enough quality songs here to make it a must have for musical fans that haven't managed to witness the full performance experience.

9

Darren Rea