Operation Mincemeat review: Hyperactive WWII musical comedy got on my nerves

Two hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission.At the Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street.Like any Broadway show, the musical “Operation Mincemeat” sells merchandise and drinks at intermission. Might I also suggest Adderall?The madcap World War II comedy from London, which opened Thursday night at the Golden Theatre, is an often tiring wallop of frenetic hyperactivity.

There’s ample cleverness and some witty lines, but the Red Bull tweeness gets grating.Eighty-two roles are played by a caffeinated cast of five young Brits: David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson, Jak Malone, Claire-Marie Hall and Zoë Roberts. They shout, jump, rave, wink, mug, change outfits countless times and race through wordy lyrics like singing auctioneers.Men play women, women play men.

The only thing they don’t do is breathe.Joined by Felix Hagan, stars Hodgson, Cumming and Roberts also co-wrote the overly silly show that blends “Hamilton”-like rap, “Six”-style dance pop and “Billy Elliot”-evoking anthems with broad physical comedy and throws it all onto a hamster wheel.I found the story absorbing; the yuks, abusive.The little-known, weird-but-true tale, which was recently made into a serious film of the same name starring Colin Firth, is itself appealingly warped.  Set in 1943, it’s about a real intelligence operation during the Second World War in which the British tricked the Nazis into abandoning Sicily by planting false plans on a corpse disguised as an officer.  Such a premise wouldn’t immediately scream “musical!”, but here’s a techno dance number called “Das Übermensch” performed by dancing Nazis.And this chapter of history is anything but humorous, yet now it’s best-known for being a comedy that ends with a mega-mix and confetti cannon.Perhaps that’s why “Mincemeat” has developed such a rabid fandom in the UK: It’s a scrappy work put on by a scrappy company with humble origins.

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