How cool indie musicals wowed the West End

On World Theatre Day, forget big-budget Disney shows and sing-alongs — young, fresh and funny new musicals are sweeping Theatreland

- Nick Clark

AROUND the West End, a new tune is being sung. Among the long runners, Disney shows, film adaptations, jukebox sing-alongs and star vehicles, a different sort of musical is making a mark, with the rise of younger, fresher, very cool British shows — written and performed by exciting young talent, and covering all sorts of subjects from true-crime podcasters to Second World War espionage. And audiences love it.

From Six to Operation Mincemeat — and with Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) to Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! opening soon — these are original shows with no marquee stars and small, unknown casts, yet have built huge followings on their journeys that have often included runs at the fringe or regional theatre on their way into the West End.

Critics and audiences are taking notice, as are awards judges. This month Operation Mincemeat, a musical about an extraordinary true-life mission masterminded by British intelligence in the Second World War, landed six Olivier Award nominations. The show started in 2019 at the New Diorama, a tiny venue with 80 seats, and following runs at the Southwark Playhouse and the Riverside Studios it made it to the West End’s Fortune Theatre last year — the venue where The Woman in Black had played for more than three decades.

“It felt very exciting,” says Natasha Hodgson, one of the show’s creators and stars, who is up against Nicole Scherzinger for best actress in a musical at the Oliviers. “The West End was a ridiculous step, but it was still the thing we do. We go on stage together; we make silly jokes and do our silly songs.”