A Surprising Broadway Experience

This past weekend I traveled with a group of friends to NYC. It was a wonderful, heart-filling trip full of delectable foods, wondrous sights, rich laughter and soulful conversation. However, if asked to note my favorite part of the trip, I’d say it was the Broadway musical we attended.

I have to preface this with my history with musicals. My mom raised me on musicals, and they were a major part of my childhood. My first live musical was a London West End performance of Cats when I was maybe ten, but even before then she’d introduced me to movie versions of shows such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and A Chorus Line (Mom would fast-forward through inappropriate content). I loved every one I watched and would listen to the albums on repeat.

Then in high school two friends ruined musicals for me by pointing out how ridiculous most of them are. Men kidnapping women to make them brides? Cats stumping to become an annual sacrifice? An average Joe making a deal with a devil to become a great baseball player (Damn Yankees, another favorite of mine)? There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule, but ever since that conversation, I’ve developed the unfortunate habit of rating musicals on the Silly Scale, ranging from Cats to one of the more serious: Les Misérables. I ask, “Would my time actually be better spent sleeping through this show?” Feeling regularly sleep-deprived, often times the answer is “yes.”

I do still go to musicals, with friends or with my Mom. I look at it as an opportunity to spend time with my favorite people (social) and support their interests (growth). It is rarely an activity I’ll propose. And so it was with my friends in NYC.

The show they chose was Operation Mincemeat, which only opened last month on Broadway and is scheduled for a limited run. It did win two Laurence Olivier Awards (Britain’s version of the Tony Awards) last year. However, the group behind the show, collectively known as SpitLip, state on their website that their intent is to make “big, dumb musicals,” and the premise of the show—fooling the Nazis with a dead body—promises to rank high on the Silly Scale. Needless to say, my expectations going in were low.

What I saw was a very talented, energetic cast perform a humorous story with a surprising depth to it. The five cast members continually adopt different roles, and I was fascinated by how they could convincingly become different characters with a simple prop and a change of demeanor and voice. The music was so catchy and the show such a positive experience (the outcome of this event exceeding expectations) that I was happy to download the Original Cast Recording to revisit the show and reflect.

Most of the themes I really enjoyed from the show touched on esteem In one way or another: a smart person underestimating his own worth and holding back a clever proposal, the women feeling undervalued and planning on the fact that they would receive no accolades for their contributions, and one character admitting to his use of flattery to get necessary action from people. Additionally, I was intrigued by the historical inspiration for the story and felt compelled to look up how much of it was true (growth) (surprisingly, quite a bit).

I was thrilled by this unexpected surprise of a musical and highly recommend you check it out if you get the chance. Have you seen Operation Mincemeat? What were your thoughts? Do you have a favorite musical? Which one? Why?