"Operation Mincemeat" at the Golden Theater

Content note: Contextually appropriate use of Nazi imagery. 

I will get to the show, though the TL:DR is that I loved it and it was worth the journey and the expense.

I came to "Operation Mincemeat" in an unusual way for a theoretical Broadway watcher. I had seen the #Ham4Ham performance, I had seen the Olivier's performance, and I was a little meh. I'd even seen a performance of "Dear Bill" and been like, well, this is nice. And scoffed at the people typing in the comments, "It makes more sense in context." (It does, in fact, have more emotional punch in context. This is however true of just about any good musical song.)  Funnily enough, I watched a Max Kylemenko video where he spent a day with the cast and it was exactly the kind of weird behind the scenes stuff that I love and I was like, I should look into this musical some more. I discovered that the entire cast album was available, and and did my cast album listen while I scanned through the plot summary. And I fell in deep. I scoured the internet for interviews. I watched the writer/creators early videos from when they were developing the songs. I became obsessed. 

When I decided to see "Hadestown" I put myself on a timeout from the cast albums, and "Operation Mincemeat" became the replacement cast album. I debated trying to stuff it into my Hadestown trip and then decided to plan a separate trip. 

Figuring the original cast having now played these roles in multiple theaters, having made it through an award season in the UK and here, might be seeking a rest soon, but wanting to avoid peak winter holiday tourist season I picked end of January. In a year that ends in six. 

Some of you might remember the last time I went to New York the last weekend in January in a year that ended in six. (Blog here. But basically, it snowed so much they shut down Broadway. Fortunately after I had seen my planned show.)

Snow appeared in the forecast for my January trip, but it wasn't supposed to start until late Saturday, so probably wouldn't accumulate until after I was on the train back. I shared this plan with multiple people who gave me varying looks of, oh, well, I look forward to hearing how that works out for you. By Thursday the totals were looking dire, and one friend texted me, you have to stay in New York if you do this, travelling back after the show is ridiculous. By that point I had gone from thinking the journey back in the weather would be a fun adventure, to maybe this is not the kind of adventure I wish for. I was too tired, and still a little bit sad about going to rearrange things Thursday night, so decided to do it first thing Friday. And Friday I woke up to Amtrak having cancelled my trip. Telecharge very kindly let me rebook my show ticket. And I picked a new weekend in February.

Now yes, I know snow happens in February too. But I was trying to see the original cast, and this was their last weekend of performances. I know the American recruits are amazing. But I wanted this. 

So when I checked the weather at the start of the week and saw snow, I had an unusual reaction for me. I thought, really. Fortunately it shifted just enough into Sunday that I was, fingers crossed going to be fully back home before there was a drop. But school kids, call me! I can be bribed. 

Also, I failed to check the Olympics schedule when I made my plans, so I really appreciate the gold medal men's hockey game being scheduled after my return. It was really very kind of the Olympics.

So, the show. It is amazing. It is funnier in person. (The cast album is pretty funny.) Do I think most musicals are best if you go in cold? Sure. But live theater is still amazing. Even when you've listened to it enough that you've figured out all the character switches, watching them do it, is amazing. 

Sorry, here are the basics. The Allied forces need the German troops to move off of Sicily so they can use Sicily to launch their big win the war plan. The plan the British devise, Operation Mincemeat, is to plant a dead body with some secret war plans involving Sardinia. The troops on Sicily will go to Sardinia to check it out and voila!

The show uses five actors to play eighty some characters. There are several songs where they switch character mid song. A friend of mine pointed out that "Come From Away" does this. I feel like Mincemeat does this at a eleven. But yes. The show also explores privilege, the way that war changed opportunities for women, and the sort of goofiness of some of the things that were happening. 

I am a person who is well-versed in World War II stuff, and didn't really feel like I needed more, but once again, if you sing to me, I can be bought. 

As I said this was the last weekend for the original cast, but it's been running in the West End happily without the original cast. I feel sure whatever cast you see will be amazing. I already want to see it again.

Edited to add theater name and to correct typos.

Sports

The thing about sports is there is no such thing as a foregone conclusion. Sure everyone will claim they can tell. But sports betting would not exist if sports was actually predictable. We hold and watch competitions because both the expected and unexpected can be amazing to witness. 

Writing or many creative pursuits can be like that. You set targets and goals and some days you show up and are a star who exceeded expectations. And some days, not so much. You try to practice and learn your best conditions so wherever possible you have more good days than bad. But some days it snows in the middle of your half pipe competition or someone nudges you off the short track and you just don't know. Even on the publishing side you'll hear stories of trains full of books falling into lakes or covers that got banned by one of the stores or some rave going viral. Wildly unpredictable things happen every day. You show up as ready as you can be for what happens next. 

Sale!

Newsletter readers got this news first, but Clear as Ice is currently on sale as in the US and Canada as part of the Lovers and Haters sale. Clear as Ice is the story that you might remember started here on the blog as part of #Hockeyfiction. Sienna is no stranger to social media. When she unwittingly starts something claiming there are no Asian Americans in hockey, and then discovers there is one on her hometown team, she knows it’s up to her to make amends. And given her new no dating this year rule, she won’t have any trouble keeping things professional. Al is used to people acting like he’s the first or only Asian American in hockey. As the Domes’ season moves towards the playoffs, he knows how to keep focused just on hockey. Even as Sienna turns out to be more than he expected in so many ways. Kobo link is here: https://bit.ly/3pvCSeS If you prefer other vendors, other links are below. Zon: https://amzn.to/3AxKDr4 Apple: https://apple.co/3PtQZMx Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/mvXreX Bookshop link: https://bookshop.org/books/clear-as-ice/9798201254728

It's That Time of Year

Aka 7 Things About the Olympics

1. Let's get some disclaimers out of the way. Borders are arbitrary. Gender is not binary. The Olympics are very arbitrary about what counts as actually breaking the rules vs not. The countries that are allowed vs. banned is not consistent. But I enjoy some of the pretense that the Olympics claim to be, and hope they will be someday. Basically they are imperfect, and yes, very little is perfect, but also they need to change more and faster than they have been. 

2. Opening ceremonies are delightfully weird in that way that seems so cringe when it's your country until someone else makes fun of it, and you are like actually that cultural dance is wonderful, and the dancing statues had a context, thank you very much. The only thing more delightfully weird than an opening ceremony, is a closing.

2. I personally am a little bit sore from waking in snow. (Okay it was snow-crete.) So the incredible work and dedication to race down a mountain, or across one, or around a rink, and maybe to toss in a flip is amazing. 

3. People like to pretend sports are a break, a respite from reality. But even if sports didn't involve people, the reality is there. There's an athlete from Minneapolis who is competing while her town is under attack. There are skiiers and skaters seeing the effects of climate change. 

4. I love every ridiculous stat they cite. No country with three syllables has ever won two consecutive medals in ski ballet. (Not a real event currently.)

5. I love every weird attempt to jack up the emotion in every hardship story. Jack, when you were diagnosed with seasonal allergies, did you think your athletic career was over? 

Yes, but then I discovered snow sports, Susie, and my life was changed. 

6. I love judging the country outfits. It amuses me how serious about cold some countries are, versus the ones that are like, will a puffy hat be enough? Also seeing which secondary and tertiary colors some countries adopt. And the athletes that are the lone competitor for their country. 

7. Also, people talk about Superbowl ads, but I confess I love judging the Olympic ads. They attempt to be heartwarming and sometimes are. 

Changes in the News

We subscribed to The Washington Post growing up. I remember discovering that there were columnists who appeared in metro, style, and sports, some of them twice a week. Determining their rhythms. Learning which movie critic aligned with my tastes. When I got old enough to plan my weekend around the going out guide. Their incredibly knowledgeable books section that covered stuff that wasn't just literary or a bestseller. 

I had a friend working at the Post when it got bought by a billionaire. She was laid off a few years later with almost her whole team. As they slowly shrank the metro section down, as their popular sports columnists left for the sports channel, and they made minimal efforts to grow their replacements to the same stature. 

The Post has slowly changed. And certainly the rise of the internet and the changing ad scape mean all news sites are grappling with change. But to me it seemed the higher ups assumed that having Washington in the name was locality enough. Of course this meant to find out what was actually happening in the city where I lived I had to turn to other news sources, like WTOP, the 51st, Washington City Paper, and City Cast. And so I had less time for the Post because the Post stopped serving what I wanted. 

It's hard not to wonder if like Twitter this wasn't an intentional death blow to a thing that had provided clear eyed reporting of many goings on.

Or perhaps, the signs were already there when an award winning journalist saved a key revelation for his book rather than his newspaper column. 

I am sorry for all the incredible people who lost their jobs this week.

The State of Things

I've been staying away from current events of late because the firehose of news is sometimes a lot and I don't like dwelling on it.  But I received a newsletter from a local business speaking out about the state violence in Minnesota and found myself a little peeved that this particular business had sort of never mentioned the National Guard being activated in DC.  I find I talk to several people who don't realize that I commute most days with or past the National Guard.  That the National Guard and the Park Police patrolled streets along with the local police and knocked on doors and proudly arrested literal hundreds of our neighbors.  And yes, some of the most obvious and egregious stuff has seemed to slow.  The unhoused gentleman who hangs out near where I board the metro is back in place (though much of his stuff was trashed by the police and various federal forces who placed him under a psychiatric hold for choosing to live outside.  

Now, certainly, I understand many eyes are turned towards Minnesota as they rightly should be. Goodness knows I have been tracking the news in Minnesota, checking in with Minnesota friends, donating where I can.  But I also know that the things happening here, even if they seem less bad or more benign are equally deserving of attention and pushback.  Local people, even some in the suburbs sometimes fall into the trap that DC folks deserve the mistreatment we get because we aren't a state, as if she forgot to mail in our statehood application.  As if we haven't asked multiple times to be a state, through the appropriate channels and been ignored.  They left us a federal enclave intentionally.  Because they enjoy holding power over a mostly brown, mostly liberal city.

Anyway, some days I seek joy where I can find it.  But it doesn't mean I've forgotten about all the figurative and literal ice we are digging out from under.