Top Secret Spies Who Sing and Dance

Reviewed by Mary Alderson

It’s 1943 and the Allies’ progress in World War II looks bleak. Hitler is always one step ahead of them. MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5), the British espionage gang, is under great pressure to come up with clever plan to get ahead in this horrific war.

The best idea they have to offer is code-named Operation Mincemeat.

The idea is cobbled together without much thought or attention to detail, and somehow, it is accepted and launched. The five people working on the plan will remind you of the old TV show Get Smart – they bumble along and by strange means their strategy to feed false information to the Nazis gains ground.

Operation Mincemeat is on stage now at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre until December 13. Five excellent comedic actor-singer-dancers who play multiple parts tell the true story (yes, true, this silliness is not a fictional story) of how they put fake information into the German army’s hands, which in turn, led the Nazis to pull out of Sicily and allow the Allies to move in. This new musical was a hit on London’s West End and on Broadway, winning many awards and nominations in 2024 and 2025.

This musical moves quickly along and you will need to know a couple of things in order to keep up. First, the actors play various roles, and women play men and men play women, so pay attention to the characters. Arrive at the theatre early enough to peruse the Programme, where there are photos and descriptions of the actual people involved. Ewen Montagu, Charles Cholmondeley, John Bevan, Jean Leslie, Hester Leggatt and Glyndwr Michael are not names found in the old history books, but they did change the course of WWII, even if it was more by blunder than good planning.

Ian Fleming is another character in this musical. Fleming was also part of MI5 and a novelist, who used his experience to write the James Bond books. Canada can take some credit for the Bond character. Fleming visited Canada’s spy training camp (known but not widely known as Camp X) on Lake Ontario at Oshawa when he was learning the ropes of espionage.

The five key characters are not masterminds of military intelligence; they are a group grasping at straws to make an impression on the upper ranks, and as a bonus, help out in the war effort. While spies like James Bond comes across as a superhuman, these are just ordinary people, which makes the story that much more endearing.

You will also need to pay attention to the songs. They further the plot, so make sure you are listening to the lyrics. It’s not a show where you can sit back and just let it happen. Like spies, you need to pay close attention to follow their crazy plan. But once you catch on to who’s who and what’s what, you will thoroughly enjoy it.

Like a Mel Brooks show, the characters are aware of the fact they are in a musical and as the action winds down, they decide they need a glitzy finale. Out come the sequinned uniforms. Because their scheme was almost foiled by an American pilot, the finale includes some star-spangled banner costumes and dance. While this was probably a big hit on Broadway, it fell a little flat with the Canadian audience on opening night.

Operation Mincemeat is a zany comedy, with a brilliant cast, mixing hilarious situations with a touching love story, and a moment of tragedy. You will laugh a lot, and there will be a sharp intake of breath at one instant; everything you need in a musical.

Operation Mincemeat continues with eight shows a week at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W., Toronto, Ontario until December 13. Call 1-800-461-3333 or visit www.mirvish.com  for tickets.

Photo: Mariah Copeland as Johnny Bevan, Luke Antony Neville as Hester Leggatt, Katie Kleiger as Ewen Montagu, Jake Bentley Young as Charles Cholmondeley, and Erin Ramirez as Jean Leslie. Photos by Matthew Murphy.

Operation Mincemeat – A New Musical
Book, Music and Lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Godgson, Zoe Roberts
Directed by Gorden Greenberg
Musical Direction by Robert Hastie
Choreographed by Jenny Arnold
Performed by Mariah Copeland, Katie Kleiger, Luke Antony Neville, Erin Ramirez Jake Bentley Young.
Royal Alexandra Theatre, King Street, Toronto
October 27 to December 13, 2026
Reviewed by Mary Alderson