David Cumming (born 16 January 1987)[1] is a British writer and actor best known for the musical Operation Mincemeat, which is currently running on both the West End and Broadway.
David Cumming | |
|---|---|
 Cumming in 2025 | |
| Born | 16 January 1987 |
| Occupations | Actor, writer |
Early life and education
editCumming was born in Newcastle upon Tyne.[2] His mother was born in Scotland and his father was a Pakistani immigrant.[3] He attended the University of Warwick, where he studied Theatre and Performance Studies.[2][4]
Career
editCumming co-founded the comedy group Kill the Beast in 2012 alongside Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts, Ollie Jones, and Clem Garritty.[5] Kill the Beast produced four stage productions, including The Boy Who Kicked Pigs[6] (2013), He Had Hairy Hands[7] (2014), Don't Wake The Damp[8] (2016), and Director's Cut[9] (2019).
Hodgson, Cumming, and Roberts, with newcomer Felix Hagan, split off the group in 2017 to form SpitLip with the intention of creating "big dumb musicals."[10] SpitLip's first musical, Operation Mincemeat, eventually transferred to the West End[11] and later Broadway,[12] winning the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.[13] He also received three Tony Award nominations for his creative work on the show for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical & Best Original Score.[14] In addition to co-writing and co-composing the musical, Cumming also originated the role of "Charles Cholmondeley & Others," which he has played in every production of the show and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance.[15]
In 2018, Cumming and Conrad Murray, in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre's Beatbox Academy, co-directed the critically acclaimed production of Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster.[16] The production was later adapted for television by BBC Four.[5][17]
Cumming joined drag performance group Sink the Pink for two holiday-themed shows including How to Catch a Krampus in 2018[18] and Escape From Trash Planet in 2019.[19] In 2021, Cumming and Sink the Pink collaborator Ginger Johnson wrote and directed Dog Show, a canine-themed queer cabaret which ran at the Pleasance for a month.[20]
In 2023, Cumming took up the role of Guest Artistic Director at the King's Head Theatre, where he presented "QUEER FUTURES: A FESTIVAL OF THE NOW WHICH IS YET TO COME."[21] He returned in 2024 to join the cast of Outings, an anthology of coming out stories performed as a fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ Switchboard charity.[22]
Personal life
editOne week before Operation Mincemeat premiered at Riverside Studios, Cumming broke his collarbone in a biking accident. His replacement in the role of Charles Cholmondeley, Seán Carey, had to learn the entire musical in a week.[23][24]
Cumming is queer.[25]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Kill The Beast Limited" (PDF). Registrar of Companies For England and Wales. 3 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- 1 2 "Theatremaker David Cumming: 'I've always had a strong voice, now I'm branching out'". The Stage. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Cumming, David [@DaveyCumming] (29 September 2023). "As the spawn of a White Scottish-born mother and a Pakistani immigrant father, I am proud to be part of Broken Britain's filthy multicultural, miscegenist problem xoxo" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 November 2025 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ "'Operation Mincemeat' Crosses the Pond and Takes Broadway by Storm | All Of It". WNYC. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- 1 2 "Who is David Cumming". TheaterMania. 30 January 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ Wicker, Tom (16 March 2013). "The Boy Who Kicked Pigs". Exeunt. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ↑ "He Had Hairy Hands". Kill the Beast. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ↑ "Don't Wake The Damp". Kill the Beast. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ↑ Worsley-Carter, Lorraine (31 October 2019). "Kill The Beast: Director's Cut at The Lowry: Review". Quays Life. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ↑ "Who is SpitLip? Musicals, Operation Mincemeat and more". 30 September 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ Wild, Stephi. "OPERATION MINCEMEAT Transfers To Southwark Playhouse". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ Wild, Stephi. "Meet the Cast of OPERATION MINCEMEAT, Now in Previews on Broadway". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ "Winners announced for 2024 Olivier Awards including Sunset Boulevard, Sarah Snook and Operation Mincemeat". 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ Evans, Greg (1 May 2025). "Tony Awards Nominations: 'Buena Vista Social Club', 'Maybe Happy Ending' And 'Death Becomes Her' Lead Way – Complete List". Deadline. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
- ↑ "David Cumming Biography". Broadway Buzz. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ↑ Clapp, Susannah (1 April 2018). "The week in theatre: The Inheritance; Frankenstein: Making a Monster – review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ "BBC Four - Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster". BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ "How to Catch a Krampus! – Pleasance Theatre | Musical Theatre Review". Musical Theatre Review. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ "Sink the Pink announce drag sci-fi b-movie Christmas adventure Escape From Planet Trash". Theatre-News.com. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ Thefry, Chloe (30 November 2021). "Interview: David Cumming – Dog Show @ The Plesance". CentreStage. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ Wild, Stephi. "David Cumming's QUEER FUTURES: A FESTIVAL OF THE NOW WHICH IS YET TO COME Comes To The King's Head Theatre In July". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ Millward, Tom (21 May 2024). "King's Head Theatre announces Outings – a Pride fundraiser". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ↑ "David Cumming from Operation Mincemeat - Random 8". British Comedy Guide. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ Loveridge, Lizzie (20 August 2022). "REVIEW: Operation Mincemeat, Riverside Studios (2022)". TheatreVibe. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ↑ Selman, Chris (11 September 2023). ""People are coming to the show and adding new levels of queer joy" - David Cumming on West End hit Operation Mincemeat". GAY TIMES. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
External links
edit- David Cumming at Curtis Brown