Little Lark of London

“It’s about a small group of people achieving big things, which is a lovely message to send outwardly”

Operation Mincemeat, the winner of the 2023 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, has been taking the Fortune Theatre – and the West End! – by storm with its incredible musical tale of the real-life Operation Mincemeat, in which the British were able to use a dead body as a way to get Hitler and his troops out of Sicily. Now in its second year on the West End, the show has had a cast change, with some new actors coming in and previous covers taking on the roles.

Recently, we had the chance to speak with Claire-Marie Hall [Jean Leslie & Others], Chlöe Hart [Johnny Bevan & Others] and Emily Barber [Ewen Montagu & Others] about being a part of the musical. We discussed how they each got started in the world of theatre, what it is like to be playing with gender in the show and even what they hope audiences take away from Operation Mincemeat.

So starting with a bit of a general question, how did you each get started in the world of theatre?

Chlöe: So I started singing when I was really young – about six. My mum ran a pub and we used to have monthly karaoke with a man called Dexter Love, which was hilarious. I used to be six years old, getting up on the karaoke and singing Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. I didn’t realise at that age, but as I went on, I realised I wanted to do something with singing, but I knew I didn’t want to be a pop star. So I was like, “I don’t know what it is that I want to do!” Then my mum bought me the Cats VHS, and I remember seeing Elaine Paige in a costume – she was playing somebody else. She was singing, she was dancing, she was doing all these things. I was like, “That’s what I want to do. What is that?” And she was like, “It’s musical theatre.” And that’s how it started – watching Elaine Page! Then did the classic amdram, GCSEs, BTEC and then to drama school. Classic vibes! 

Claire-Marie: I got karaoke stories as well! My family used to spend Easter holiday in Cornwall every year cool. There was a guy called Freddy Zapp and he had karaoke. My dad knew that I liked singing so he took me along. He said, “Do you want to come and sing?” I was like, “Okay!” Sang “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” which is the only song I knew – could just get the lyrics out. And then all the people from the one side – it was an L-shape – came around and watched me. My dad was like, “Is she any good?” To the guy on the radio and he went, “She’s great!” So from there they entered me into a talent competition, which I ended up winning. Won a scholarship to Stagecoach and then started getting in by that – they got me in the performing bug!

Karaoke as well, Emily? [Laughs]

Emily: What was I doing? I did ballet from three but I don’t think I enjoyed that, even though I still did it. I used to do summer schools at the Key Theatre in Peterborough. We did Jesus Christ Superstar when I was about seven, and I got cast as Judas!

[Laughs]

Chlöe: So you did actual rock songs?

Emily: Yeah! Obviously playing a male role then, as well. But I do remember my dad being like, “You know what? You’re not that bad.” And then I joined the youth theatre and I remember every Saturday doing improv and just being like, “How can you have this much fun on Saturday afternoon?” Just absolutely loving it! And that was that.

And how do each of you first get involved with Operation Mincemeat?

Claire-Marie: Mine is traditional, really – just auditioned for it! I’d heard about it on the fringe grapevine. I’d been doing a fringe play the first time it was out and everybody was talking about it, being like, “Have you seen Operation Mincemeat? It’s amazing!” And I was like, “Oh, I really want to go and see it, but it’s sold out.” So anyway, when it came around the second time, they did an open audition for it. I was like, “Well, I’ve heard about this. It sounds amazing. It’s multi-roling, it’s comedy, it’s a musical, I’m definitely going to go up for it.” They were just doing a 10-show run at the Southwark Little, a 100-seater. I’d never heard the songs before! I got the songs through and I was like, “This is gold. This is amazing!” They didn’t give any script at the time. They gave me some script just before I went in, which was the old script that they cut going forward. And then they just got us to do it in a variety of different accents and different kind of characters. I remember thinking coming out of the audition, “I have no idea what the hell it is, but I really want it!” [Laughs] 

Chlöe: That’s amazing! Mine is a little less exciting. I was sharing dressing with a friend of mine who got an audition for it. I went to my agent straight away and was like, “I want to audition for this!” So he got me an audition and then did probably the craziest audition process I’ve ever done, really! Just in the fact that after the first audition, there was a period of eight weeks before the second one, which is quite unusual in this country. I just remember after my final saying to my friends, “I haven’t wanted a job this much since like 2015, since I did Kinky Boots.” This is the first time I’d really, really wanted a job. I love every other job I’ve done in between, but at the time I was auditioning for them, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted them, whereas this, I was like, “This is good.” And then I came to see it and as soon as she [Zoë Roberts as Bevan] said, “Really, whose side are you on?” At the top of Act Two, I was like, “I have to play that. I need that job.” And that was it!

Emily: I come from a more straight acting background, so last year, I said to my agent, “I’ve always wanted to do musical – please, can I just audition for one?” Spent 2024 somehow manifesting this, and then somehow managed to audition for some and then was auditioning for Mincemeat and it was a complete different process to anything I’ve ever done before, in terms of the rounds, the dance calls, all these things. And then I came to see it and was like, “Oh, my God, if I get a chance to play Monty . . . This is incredible!” And then somehow got it, so it’s all good!

For Chlöe and Emily, how have you taken these roles and made them your own? 

Emily: I saw Tash’s performance and was blown away. But equally, because I was auditioning at the same time, you do just immediately read a script and interpret it in your own way. It was just making sure that I was very clear on my interpretation of how I saw Monty. Having seen it, there’s lots of things that work, but actually staying true to my instincts and knowing that the material is good enough that it can be interpreted in lots of ways. 

Chlöe: The same sort of thing, really! We were given quite a lot of license in the rehearsal process to do that. They were quite flexible with allowing us to find things new and not giving line reads and, “This is how it must be.” There are some things that are a formula, and the beat is there, and that’s going to make the people laugh. That’s that. So those things you don’t mess with. But a lot of it is that your interpretation can also give a fantastic performance. It’s just been quite an easy process to do that. It hasn’t felt like a battle at all to do that.

And Claire, what has it been like with the new cast members in the show?

Claire-Marie: It’s been really lovely! When the first cast change happened, I was so set in my ways of playing things exactly as I had done for the last four and a half years. And actually, the director sat me down and was like, “This is a brilliant time for you to find new ways to play things and play off everyone else and their interpretations.” And that has been the most eye-opening and wonderful thing to happen, because now I’m like, “Oh, I feel free again! I can actually restart this whole process.” It no longer feels that I’m doing the same thing every night. Actually, it’s been a whole new exploration of this character and a whole new interpretation of Jean as well, which has come off the back of playing against everyone else’s new interpretations of the characters. 

And for Emily, you’d said before you were in mostly straight theatre. What is it like getting thrown into this chaotic musical?

Emily: All I talk about is how tired I am! [Laughs]

Chlöe: This is a particularly tiring musical. 

Emily: It is funny that everyone was like, “You said you wanted to do a musical, but then you picked the hardest one to do.” 

[Laughs]

Emily: Currently, it’s obviously incredibly fulfilling and does feel different. But also, I’m not used to the cover system and how the casts are constantly changing, so that’s a whole new exciting thing. So yeah, I’m loving it. But it’s got its new challenges, and positives and negatives. It’s great!

Chlöe and Claire, you’ve been doing musical theatre for most of your careers. What is Operation Mincemeat like compared to the ones you’ve been in in the past?

Claire-Marie: For me, this is a really different move from a lot of the stuff I’ve done before. I’ve done big commercial stuff. Before I left the industry and came back, I did like Les Misérables, The King and I, High School Musical . . . All commercial ventures which weren’t necessarily new – they’d all been done before.  I was told exactly how to execute them the same way that somebody else had previously done before me. So number one, getting to come and do something completely new, and basically workshop into this venture which has become Operation Mincemeat as we know today is a huge privilege and something I’ve never really been able to do before. But also getting to do a completely comedy musical, which again, was also something I’d never really kind of got to try my hat on before and something I really love now and hope I get to do more of in the future. So it’s been really exciting, just a unique and different experience!

Chlöe: Yeah, the same sort of thing – a lot of the stuff I’ve done has been commercial hits. I suppose this is that now, though! It wasn’t initially, but it is now, definitely. What I’ve tended to do in my career has been to do a more contemporary show, then a more classical show, and then I’ve flip-flopped between the two. And this falls somewhere in the middle, really, because it’s a classic book musical, but it’s a contemporary one because of when it was written. So this feels like a new step for me into the more comedy side of things, and weirdly a bit more into the straight acting. It’s a hybrid of the two. It’s definitely a musical, but it’s definitely got a lot more acting. You need more acting chops for it than you do for a lot of musicals. 

And you [Chlöe] in particular have two main characters of Bevan and Haselden. What’s it like switching between those two?

Chlöe: There was definitely a couple of times in rehearsals where I came on in one scene and started my Bevan with a West Country accent! [Laughs] But with the costume and with everything that you do in the show, it really helps. I love it! My favourite thing about it is the multi-roling, for sure, flipping between the two. In the first song, when I go from Fleming to Bevan to Fleming, I love coming back on with the horses and watching people look at me and go, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Because that’s the first time they see that in the show! It’s the first time they see a switch. I see people notice it and that and they’re like, “Oh my god, that’s the same person that just did that. That’s so weird.” That’s a really nice little moment to look at. 

And you both [Emily and Claire-Marie] have a few switches as well. What is it like for you?

Claire-Marie: It’s fun! You get to be so many different personas in a show. I’m used to playing one character, coming off stage, having a cup of tea, and then going into my character again. Number one, it’s mentally stimulating in that you’ve got to completely be on the ball – you don’t get a rest. And number two, you get to be like, “Okay, I’m gonna play this character this way! I’m gonna play this character this way!” You get to make so many different choices on things in the one show, which is a hell of a lot of fun. 

Emily: Obviously, Monty is driving the operation and the energy of the scene, so when I get to play Juan, I’m just having the best time of my life! In clowning terms, it’s really interesting how many clouds you can create, and mine has certainly come to me. It’s just really fun. Whenever do you get to play Juan and Monty as a woman? It’s wild, really,

Claire-Marie: And then one of the Nazis as well!

Emily: Yeah, I get to be sexy for a bit! 

That actually leads perfectly into my next question! What is it like playing with gender in the show?

Chlöe: I find it really, really liberating. I find it’s also challenging. Personally and self-esteem-wise, I found myself feeling quite unconfident. Outside of here, I feel like I need to put on more makeup and feel a bit more feminine, but actually, I’m quite androgynous in my real life. But then being so androgynous in this feels like “Oh, now I’m just too androgynous.” Whereas, when I’ve done a show like Six, for example, I love being androgynous during the day because I know at night I’m gonna look fierce and sexy. In this, I’m like, “I need to put makeup on and look nice during the day because I’m not going to be able to look nice at night!” So in terms of look-wise, this is quite challenging, but in terms of just being open-legged, just sitting there, I just love that! It feels so strong. So inwardly, it feels amazing. Outwardly, it feels quite challenging for me personally. 

Emily: We make jokes about how sometimes if we’ve had a day off, we come back ever so slightly more feminine. I can feel the masculinity I have taken from Monty into my life, personally. I see it as really liberating – I’m really enjoying it. And it is growing! It’s just finding the physicality and seeing where that goes. But yeah, it’s really liberating, I find.

So you feel you’ve already started taking things away from your characters?

Emily: Really strange characteristics coming out in my personal life and I’m like, “Okay, this is Monty!”

And Claire, you have a little bit with Steve . . . 

Claire-Marie: Male? Female? Who is Steve? Steve is just on his own. [Laughs] Again, it’s liberating, especially going from Jean, who’s very feminine and enthusiastic – she’s a pioneer of her time and her gender. But at the same time, it’s nice to go from being a prim little female to being Steve, who is silly! And then to playing Tar at the beginning, or Reggie, who is your overprivileged Eton-esque male. 

Chlöe: I think that Reggie is one of the most Etonion people in the show – he’s nuts!

Claire-Marie: He used to be really nuts – he’s been toned down a lot! He was slightly insane. They’ve taken some of the words out, but he would set things on fire and stuff! 

So what is it about Operation Mincemeat that you think has made it so popular these days, with such an incredible fan base?

Claire-Marie: I think that the characters speak to a lot of different people. It’s about a small group of people achieving big things, which is a lovely message to send outwardly. The fact that we can play anyone of any gender and age, I think that speaks to a lot of people as well – people find themselves in these characters. They see themselves in Cholmondeley as the nerdy outsider who actually is the heart of the show. Or they see themselves as Montagu, overly charming, balls to the wall, wants to get things done. They resonate with these weird and wonderful characters. I think that’s where a lot of our fan base has come from. They’re the heart that this show stands for.

Chlöe: On a more practical level, the reason people can come back again and again it’s because it’s always different, and also because there is so much to see! Even though there’s only five people on stage there is so much to see each time. When I came the second time when I was auditioning, I was just like, “I did not know that happened!” Even now, sometimes. When we’re in rehearsals the other day and something was happening, I was like, “When does that happen behind me?” I had no idea! So that allows them to come back again and again and not get bored.

Claire-Marie: And covers!

Chlöe: Exactly. 

Claire-Marie: Each one completely different, which is lovely.

Chlöe: Yeah, everyone is so different across the board. That’s one of the reasons it works.

Emily: Anyone that I know that has seen it has loved it. The writing is extraordinary! The pace of the show is something I’ve never experienced before – it really happens to you. Even being in it, it’s like a roller coaster that you have to enter and go on. And then these moments like “Dear Bill” and “Useful,” having these incredibly poignant moments amongst this absolute comedy chaos. It’s very unique as a show as well. 

Do you have any favourite parts either to play or to watch?

Claire-Marie: I love playing Steve, it’s so silly! Until that point, Jean is very much about the mission – everything seems so tightly wound up for her. She never really lets loose – maybe in “Love Is A Bird” – and then coming in and playing Steve is just completely the opposite of what Jean is. So it’s a real fun moment for me where I get to mess around with Juan or Haselden. 

Chlöe: I really like the end of “Act As If” because it’s the most “singy” bit for me. It’s so clever, the end when we all start weaving in and out. I just think it’s amazing. And I also love the top of Act Two!

Emily: It changes all the time! I find “Making A Man” really fun, and “Just For Tonight,” because again, it’s like going on a roller coaster, and you forget where it’s gonna go. And then I obviously love Juan because I can have a little breather . . .  I don’t know! [Laughs] There’s so many. There’s some lovely standalone acting scenes in amongst it that have evolved and changed. That’s the joy of it as an actor. There’s so much to do in it that you can find joy in various bits.

And what do you hope audiences take away from Operation Mincemeat?

Chlöe: I think what Claire said before, that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it and you believe in it. If it’s a good thing, obviously! [Laughs]

Claire-Marie: I think the message of “Useful” as well, where it’s not always the people receiving the accolades and the medals that are people worthy of those things. It’s always the people behind them as well that have helped them. There are a lot of people that contribute to one individual success. In everyday life, what you do counts towards something bigger.

Emily: I just hope they have a nice time!

[Laughs]

Emily: A laugh and a cry. It’s one of the only shows that I’ve laughed ridiculously and then cried within the space of three minutes. 

Do you have a favourite line?

Chlöe: Mine is, “Really?”

Claire-Marie: I love “She banished the planes from the sky.” It’s a really nice one, especially in terms of women at that time.

Emily: My most recent enjoyment is, “You really couldn’t write it, could you?”

And finally, how would you describe Operation Mincemeat in one word? 

Claire-Marie: Mad. In many senses!

Emily: Wild.

Chlöe: Smart.

Operation Mincemeat is currently running through 8 March 2025 at the Fortune Theatre. To find more information and book tickets, click here.