Every day is opening night.

Press Contacts:
Rick Miramontez / Marie Bshara / Evie Freeman / Morgan Zysman
rick@omdkc.com / marie@omdkc.com / evie@omdkc.com / morgan@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

TONY^® AND OLIVIER AWARD^® -WINNING
“OPERATION MINCEMEAT”
TO UNVEIL REPLICA OF AIRCRAFT FLOWN BY
WILLIE “BILL” WATKINS
THE REAL-LIFE AMERICAN PILOT FEATURED IN THE SHOW
TO CELEBRATE FLEET WEEK AND AMERICA250

INVITE ONLY EVENT TO TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY, JULY 7

New York, NY (July 2, 2026) – Tony^® and Olivier^® Award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat, today announced that the Golden Theater will unveil a replica of the aircraft flown by Willie “Bill” Watkins’, the real-life American pilot featured in the show, to celebrate Fleet Week and America250. He is the only American featured in the production. William Anderson Watkins was a Flight Officer in the US Army Air Corps USAAC. He was born on May 9, 1920, and died in service on December 25, 1943, in Italy, aged 23. He flew a P-39 Bell Airacobra aircraft.

Operation Mincemeat is currently in performances on Broadway, in the West End, and has just launched its world tour, beginning with a UK leg ahead of travelling across the USA beginning October 2026, followed by Canada, Mexico, China, Australia and New Zealand.

The Broadway regiment features Brandon Contreras as ‘Charles Cholmondeley & Others,’ Jessi Kirtley as ‘Jean Leslie & Others,’ Tony Award Nominee Julia Knitel (Dead Outlaw, Beautiful, Bye Bye Birdie) as ‘Ewen Montagu & Others,’ Jeff Kready (Masquerade, The Great Gatsby, Company) as ‘Hester Leggatt & Others,’ and Amanda Jill Robinson as ‘Johnny Bevan & Others.’ The understudies include Robert Ariza, Allison Guinn, Sam Hartley, Gerianne Pérez and Lexi Rabadi.

“It’s not just the best musical I’ve ever seen; it’s the most rewarding theatrical experience I’ve ever had,” said Taffy Brodesser-Akner (The New York Times).

Tickets are available at Telecharge.com or by phone at 212-239-6200. For more information, please visit operationbroadway.com.

Across over 2,000 performances – from its origins on the London Fringe to the West End, to Broadway, and now currently on a world tour, where the show runs simultaneously – Operation Mincemeat has cultivated a fervent fanbase, affectionately dubbed “Mincefluencers.” On Broadway alone, more than 5,000 audience members – roughly one in 25 – have bought tickets for multiple performances, including 205 superfans who have purchased tickets for ten or more shows.

Since premiering at London’s 77-seat New Diorama Theatre in 2019, the show been nominated for 67 awards and won 25, including Best Musical four times at the Olivier Awards®, WhatsOnStage Awards®, BroadwayWorld Theater Fans’ Choice Awards®, and Off West End 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.

Written by triple Tony Award nominees SpitLip (comprised of David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts), and directed by Robert Hastie, Operation Mincemeat began performances on Broadway on February 15, 2025 and is currently playing at the historic Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street), as well as in the West End, and has just launched its world tour, beginning with a UK leg ahead of travelling across the USA from October 2026, followed by Canada, Mexico, China, Australia and New Zealand.

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.

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