Operation Mincemeat - New Diorama/SWP/Riverside/Fortune

Great the show's in such good shape with the new cast. It must be a weird thrill for the original creator/performers - they've made so many shows over the years, and won't have imagined that any of those would be performed by anyone other than themselves. I first saw them in 'The Boy Who Kicked Pigs' ten years ago. Though they've had covers for OM and sometimes stepped out, to sit out front and see an entire cast of other people must be quite something.

These have been like this since the show opened at the Fortune Theatre. ‘Bar crawl’ and the Glitzy Finale lyrics I mean. A lot of Act As If is different from the cast recording too.

I absolutely loathed Tash’s take on Monty (she’s brilliant, it just absolutely was not for me) it borderline ruined the show for me every time, so I for one cannot wait to see Emily or Holly, I love the songs but found the book so unfunny, I’m excited to see if the new cast can change my mind.

Doesn't look like anyone has posted this but Christian is going to be performing 'Dear Bill' at a D-Day memorial event at the Royal Albert Hall next week. It will be televised and I am really pleased I'll get to see his performance of this song again. I've never seen any videos of Jak doing it (are there any?).

Finally got to see the new cast last week. Have to say, I like Emily, but she’s not a patch on Natasha Hodgson in my opinion. Lots of the intended jokes and comedy lines have been lost in her delivery, lessening the comedy of the whole thing. Sure, she still produces lots of laughs, but only from the gags that do not heavily rely on a specific delivery to make it funny. If she is your first Montagu, then I am sure you would find her absolutely great, but having previous experience of Natasha’s portrayal, I spotted many things that use to be funny, but no longer are.

For what it’s worth, I still enjoyed my evening and it is also still very early days so I am sure that Emily will only improve. I am however keen to see the Montague understudy at some point, if I can catch her, to see her take on the character.

If Emily is your first experience of the character then obviously you are going to be none the wiser of points that use to be funny that no longer are.

As I said, Emily still produced lots of laughs and I do fully agree that she is comedic, just nowhere near as comedic as Natasha Hodgson was. Is it still a very funny piece of theatre? Of course! But we definitely are multiple jokes down now.

I really liked Emily as Montagu. I wasn't overly keen on Natasha despite seeing her first (not saying she wasn't great, just that I wasnt personally taken with her). I'd say overall I probably enjoyed Emily more. I also preferred Sean to David which might be an unpopular opinion. I love both Jak and Christian and not sure I could pick a favourite. I found Zoe and Geri both brilliant as Bevan too.

We're all likely to have differences in our preferences for casts, especially Mincemeat where the covers can easily step into different roles.

I think you'll like Sean too, he plays the part brilliantly.

If you are not exaggerating, you truly did not laugh a single time at any line that came from Montagu’s mouth, have you considered that maybe the shows humour just isn’t for you? If you found it as unfunny as you’re making out you did, a different cast member is only going to change so much.

It is still the same writing at the end of the day, hence why I stress that I still laughed and enjoyed my evening watching the new cast, even with a Montagu casting I didn’t like.

Really keen for more people to catch George as Charles. I thought he was fantastic, especially for his very first performance. Also him and Sean look so eerily alike, I wasn't sure which one of them was on until I checked at the end.

Opinions eh indeed! We’re all welcome to have differing ones!