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
Lexi Rabadi (Understudy). Broadway: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (OBC, 2023 Revival). From meat pies to mincemeat, this vegetarian is immensely grateful to return to Broadway joining this incredible mission. Other theatre credits include: Dawn in Waitress, Portia in Something Rotten! (Pioneer Theatre), Laura in The Glass Menagerie (Fulton Theatre), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (Maine State Music Theatre). TV: Kiki in And Just Like That… (HBO Max, recurring). Other identities include: dog mom, notes app poet, amateur bird photographer, proud product of immigration. Deepest thanks to Teresa, Emily, Kym and Leala at Wolf Talent Group. Biggest love to family, gifted and chosen. “Stay Humble. Make Something.” @rabadilexi
