CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is based on the book and hit 2002 DreamWorks film of the same name directed by Stephen Spielberg with screenplay by Jeff Nathanson and book by Frank Abagnale, Jr.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot-all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run.
The script also draws blunt parallel lines between Frank, the pursued, and Carl, the pursuer, a work-obsessed loner. They turn out to have a lot more in common than you might suspect (except that you do, from the beginning), and they are each dutifully given songs to explain how and why. The flashy musical numbers definitely emerge from the plot, just as they are supposed to do in your basic organic musical, but they sometimes have the chalky flavor of audio-visual aids. The notion of Frank as a little boy lost limits the performance of Mr. Tveit, who was terrific as the mother-haunting son in 'Next to Normal.' He has intense presence, for sure, and a bright, blasting voice (though it belongs more to the age of 'American Idol' than 'American Bandstand'). But his performance is ultimately one-note, all shine and no shadows.
And yet there's something here that just isn't connecting, that smacks a bit of a color-by-numbers musical. A large reason may be the role of the hero, who is, after all, a cipher - a faker, a fraud, a man who is whatever we assume him to be. Beneath the pilot's uniform or doctor's white coat, there's little but a smile and a wink. 'Blink your eyes and I'll be gone,' he sings in one song. And he's right: He leaves nothing that resonates behind. Played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film, this time the role of Frank Abagnale Jr. has been handed over to Aaron Tveit. As pretty as a Ken doll and blessed with a wonderful voice, Tveit nevertheless struggles to convey genuineness.
2005 | New York |
Reading New York |
2007 | New York |
Reading New York |
2011 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2012 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Norbert Leo Butz |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Tom Wopat |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Kerry Butler |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Marc Shaiman |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Scott Wittman |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Marc Shaiman |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Larry Blank |
2011 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Marc Shaiman |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Norbert Leo Butz |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Aaron Tveit |
2011 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score | 0 |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Stephanie P. McClelland |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | The 5th Avenue Theatre |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Joan Stein/Jon Murray |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Amuse Inc. |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Loraine Boyle |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Rodney Rigby |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Rainerio J. Reyes |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Barry Feirstein |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jamie deRoy |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Paula Herold/Kate Lear |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Margo Lion |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Stacey Mindich |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Yasuhiro Kawana |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Scott and Brian Zeilinger |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | The Rialto Group |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | The Araca Group |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Michael Watt |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Barbara & Buddy Freitag |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Elizabeth Williams |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Patty Baker/Richard Winkler |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Nederlander Presentations, Inc. |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Warren Trepp |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Remmel T. Dickinson |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Larry Blank |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Marc Shaiman |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Norbert Leo Butz |
2011 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Musical | Steve Canyon Kennedy |
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