All-American Cast Will Lead OPERATION MINCEMEAT on Broadway

Tony and Olivier Award-winning Operation Mincemeat announced that an all-American cast will lead the British-made musical for the first time ever. Joining the company will be Tony AwardNominee Julia Knitel (Dead Outlaw, Beautiful, Bye Bye Birdie) as Ewen Montagu & Others and Jeff Kready (Masquerade, The Great Gatsby, Company) as Hester Leggatt & Others, alongside existing recruits Brandon Contreras, Jessi Kirtley and Amanda Jill Robinson who are  taking over the roles of Charles Cholmondeley & Others, Jean Leslie & Others and Johnny Bevan & Others, respectively. The understudies will be made up of Robert Ariza,  Allison Guinn, Sam Hartley, Gerianne Pérez and Lexi Rabadi. 

As previously announced, after playing more than 1,000 performances in Operation  Mincemeat since its inception, the original British cast, Olivier Award Winners and Tony  Award Nominees David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, Tony Awardwinner Jak Malone, and Claire-Marie Hall will play their final performance on Sunday,  February 22 at 7:30pm. This additional evening performance was added due to  overwhelming demand and an overbooked waitlist.  

Operation Mincemeat is currently in performances through September 13, 2026. 

Across 1,848 performances – from its origins on the London Fringe to the West End and  now Broadway, where the show runs simultaneously – Operation Mincemeat has  cultivated a fervent fanbase, affectionately dubbed “Mincefluencers.” On Broadway alone,  more than 2,000 audience members – roughly one in fifty – have bought tickets for multiple  performances, including 53 superfans who have purchased tickets for ten or more shows. 

Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for 64 awards since opening at the 77-seat  New Diorama Theatre in 2019, winning 13, including Best Musical 3 times, from the  Olivier Awards, WhatsOnStage Awards, and Off-West End Awards. On Broadway, the  

show was nominated for 4 Tony Awardsin 2025, including Best Musical. The  production won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Jak Malone’s portrayal of Hester  Leggatt, who previously won the Olivier Awardin the same category. The production has  also received nominations for Outstanding Production of a Musical at the Drama League  Awards, Outstanding New Broadway Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards,  and Best Musical at the BroadwayWorld Theater Fans’ Choice Awards.

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. 

Directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway on  February 15 and is currently playing at the historic Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). 

Operation Mincemeat is produced on Broadway and in the West End by Avalon (in  association with SpitLip). The show was commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co commissioned by The Lowry, and also supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. 

Biographies

Brandon Contreras (Charles Cholmondeley & Others) is New York City born & raised  creative. He was last seen causing absolute chaos as “Cal” in the Off Broadway/International hit, Titanique. Before that, he made his Broadway debut rocking  out and originating in Tom Kitt and Cameron Crowe’s, Almost Famous. Some other  theatrical favorites include Titanic and Road Show at the historical and honorable City  Center Encores!, In the Heights (1st National Tour), Jerry Springer: The Opera (The New  Group), Beauty & the Beast (Drury Lane), Bhangin’ It! (La Jolla Playhouse), You Deserve  to be Here (Roundabout Theatre Workshop) and the regional premiere of The Play that  Goes Wrong (Pioneer). FILM/TV include: The upcoming feature film, There She Goes with  Rachel Leigh Cook and Utkarsh Ambudkar, “WeCrashed”, “Mr. Robot” and “Awkwafina is  Nora from Queens.” Outside of performing, Brandon is also a freelance director, writer,  filmmaker & choreographer for multiple collaborative art pieces. With over 1.6 Million  followers across all social media platforms, he is the co-creator of the award-winning  Queer platform, The HomoSapien Experience. @OhHey_Brandon   @TheHomoSapienExperience – BrandonContreras.com 

Jessi Kirtley (Jean Leslie & Others). Broadway debut! Recent graduate of Baldwin  Wallace Conservatory of Music. Thank you to John Bautista, DGRW, C12 and Team  Mincemeat. Love you Mom, Dad and Daniel! 

Julia Knitel (Ewen Montagu & Others) is a 2025 Tony Award Nominated Actress for her  performance in the Drama Desk, Drama Critic’s Circle, and Outer Critic’s Circle Award  Winning Best Musical Dead Outlaw. For her performance in Dead Outlaw, Julia also  received an Outer Critic’s Circle award nomination. Other Broadway: Beautiful, Bye Bye  Birdie. First National Tour: Carole King in Beautiful, Come From Away. Off-Broadway:  Jack Thorne’s A Christmas Carol (Dir. Matthew Warchus), Dead Outlaw (OCC  Nomination), A Letter to Harvey Milk (Lortel Nomination), Panic of ‘29, The Tycoons (Rave  Theatre Award). Regional: Beautiful at Asolo Rep, Cape Playhouse (Gertrude Lawrence  Award), & Theatre Aspen (Henry Award Nomination). Louise in Gypsy opposite Beth  Leavel (The Muny – St. Louis Theatre Circle Nomination), The Constant Wife (Denver  Center), The Producers (Casa Mañana), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Portland Stage).  Television: “The Other Two”, “Sub/liminal”. Film: Miles. 

Jeff Kready (Hester Leggatt & Others) was most recently seen playing the Phantom of  the Opera in the original company of Masquerade. Broadway: The Great Gatsby, Company, Tootsie, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Billy Elliot, Sunday in the  Park with George, Les Misérables. Off-Broadway: Henry Ford in Ragtime (Encores). TV:  Bert Healy in “Annie Live!” starring Harry Connick Jr. (NBC), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”  (Amazon), “The Code” (CBS), “The Good Fight” (CBS), “Elementary” (CBS), “Boardwalk  Empire” (HBO). In concert, he performs as guest soloist with symphony orchestras across  the country. He was previously an elementary school music teacher and is a graduate of  Washburn University in his hometown, Topeka, KS. He married way up and has two  extremely clever daughters. Follow @jk_ready 

Amanda Jill Robinson (Johnny Bevan & Others) (she/her) is an actor, singer, musician,  writer, and composer/arranger. A Long Island native, she is thrilled to be back in New York  after most recently workshopping Sarah Rose Kearns’ adaptation of Jane Austen’s  Persuasion as the Music Director/Arranger and Mary Musgrove, a role she originated in  2017. Favorite credits include: Charlotte in Cinderella, Blithe Spirit, A Child’s Christmas in  Wales (Walnut Street Theatre); Kacie in Ugly Lies the Bone (Florida Studio Theatre); Mrs.  Randolph in the world premiere of John Guare’s Lydie Breeze Trilogy (EgoPo Classic  Theater); Man of La Mancha (Barrymore Nomination- Act II Playhouse); Smee in  Peter…Starcatcher, Henry V (Theater at Monmouth); Bumbrake/Teacher in  Peter…Starcatcher (Delaware Theatre Company); Merry Wives (DelShakes); Tis Pity  (PAC); How to Keep an Alien (Inis Nua). Amanda is the co-creator and half of the comedy  duo Ruth and Estelle (the esteemed theatrical coaches of the original cast of Cats) and  their joyful podcast, “Learning Through Laughter”. Listen on Apple and Spotify! See and  hear more at amandajillrobinson.com

Robert Ariza (Understudy). Broadway: Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening. Off Broadway/NYC: The Visitor (The Public Theater), Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor  Dreamcoat (Lincoln Center), soot and spit (New Ohio Theatre), Spamilton (The Triad).  Tour/International/Other: Hamilton (Chicago), Les Misérables (North America), Natasha,  Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Shanghai). Regional: Peterborough Players,  PlayMakers Rep, The Cape Playhouse, Virginia Theatre Festival, Adirondack Theatre  Festival, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Kansas City Starlight, Geva Theatre, Syracuse  Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Hangar Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Maltz Jupiter  Theatre, and Music Theatre Wichita. TV: “Elsbeth,” “FBI” (CBS), “Law & Order: Organized  Crime,” “Poker Face,” “Girls5Eva” (Peacock), “Pose” (FX). Cast Recordings: The Visitor,  The Theory of Relativity. Proud alum of The University of Michigan, BFA Musical Theatre  (Go Blue!) and LaGuardia Arts High School. Thanks to HCKR Agency, Carrie  Gardner/C12 Casting, the entire Mincemeat team, and all who continue to believe in me.  IG: @robertariza, www.robertariza.com 

Allison Guinn (Understudy) is a SAG Award Nominated actor, singer and autoharpist  originally from Erwin, Tennessee. Allison has been in the Broadway productions of  “Tammy Faye”, “Hair”, and “On The Town”. She’s been on television too with “American  Horror Story,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Inside Amy  Schumer,” “The Knick,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and “Divorce”. Before the pandemic, she  toured North America with Les Misérables playing the “lovable” Madame Thenardier. You  can listen to her true crime folk podcast “Some Dark Holler” on most podcast platforms,  and is half of the folk rock duo Cormack & Guinn. Instagram: @allison.guinn and  @cormackandguinn. Thanks to The Katz Company, Nicolosi & Co., family, and Bear! 

Sam Hartley (Understudy). Broadway: Gutenberg! (Doug standby). Tour: Chicago (Billy  Flynn), Elf (Buddy), Beauty and the Beast (Beast). Off-Broadway: The Butcher Boy (Irish  Rep). Endless gratitude to this glitzy team, C12, family and friends. @samfred88 

Gerianne Pérez (Understudy). Broadway: Waitress, In Transit. Tour: SIX (Catherine of  Aragon). Off-Broadway: Oratorio for Living Things. TV: “Law & Order.” Many thanks to  BRS/Gage, CLA and Team Mincemeat. Unending love to my family! @gerianne.perez