By Skip Sheffield
“Catch Me If You Can” ran for less than a year on Broadway
in 2011. It runs only five days through Nov. 18 at Kravis
Center in West Palm Beach , but it is certainly worth a
look.
Librettist Terrence McNally and songwriters March Shaiman
and Scott Wittman adopted the hit 2002 movie starring Leonardo Di Caprio as a
charming, very young con man into a stage musical, much the same as Shaiman did
with “Hairspray.”
Unlike “Hairspray,” which was based on a campy, spoofy John Waters
movie, “Catch Me If You Can” is rooted in the real story of Frank Abagnale,
Jr., who wrote of his exploits in a 1980 autobiography.
Frank Jr. is played by Stephen Anthony, a 22-year-old Miami native who looks
even younger than his years. This is good, because his character is only 16
when the story begins in New Rochelle ,
New York
This is a time when color television was new and a real big
deal. “Live in Living Color” is the opening number, and it sets the
rainbow-hued 1960s vibe of the songs and sets to follow.
Frank Jr. is an extraordinarily bright student who is told
by his proud father, Frank Sr. (Dominic Fortuna) that he can do anything.
Frank Jr. takes this all too literally when he is mistaken
for a substitute French teacher simply because he is wearing a formal jacket
(“The Pin Stripes Are All They See”).
This is an easy stretch because his mother Paula (Caitlin
Maloney) was born in France
and met his father during the war.
All is not good
between mom and dad. He is always living beyond his means and his business is
failing. When Paula leaves, Frank Jr. decides to strike out too.
Frank Jr. is a born con man who finds it surprisingly easy
to forge checks, ID cards and entire histories. So begins an adventure where
Frank Jr. impersonates a Pan Am co-pilot, a doctor who is head of ER at an Atlanta hospital, and a Louisiana lawyer.
During his impersonation of a doctor, Frank becomes smitten
with nurse Brenda (Aubrey Mae Davis), a Louisiana
girl who ran out of a wedding she did not want.
During all his shenanigans Frank Jr. is doggedly pursued by
FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Merritt David Janes), a lonely man who is fooled so
many times he develops a grudging admiration for his young quarry.
“Catch Me If You Can” is strikingly staged in LED neon bright
colors with a full orchestra on a sloping rising with drummer concealed
beneath. Director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell were both on
the creative team of “Hairspray,” and the influence shows.
Stephen Anthony has the requisite soaring tenor to pull off
his ingenious rascal, and he is quite convincing with the tiny, lovely Aubrey
Mae Davis. Ms. Davis is given the score’s best power ballad, “Fly, Fly Away,”
and she soars with it.
Leggy chorus girls, limber male dancers, colorful costumes
and sparkling scenery, “Catch Me if You Can” has all the elements of a good
spectacle. It’s a bit too much at nearly three hours, but you will be
entertained.
Tickets start at $25. Call 800-572-8471 or go to www.kravis.org.
“Sabre Dance!,” Baroque Music at FAU
The Music Department of Florida Atlantic University presents
“Sabre Dance!,” Armenian, Austrian and German Masterworks in concert at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17 in the University Theatre. Featured with the University
Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Laura Joella is classical guitarist Ken
Keaton. There is a suggested $10 donation at the door.
At 3 p.m. Sunday in the FAU Theatre is “Music of
Sensitivity:” Music of the Baroque Period with FAU Chamber Soloists, directed
by Leonid Treer. Works include Bach, Handel, Locatelli and more. A $10 donation
is suggested.
Explore “The World of Downton Abbey” at Spanish
River Library
Like “The World of Downton Abbey?” Leecy Barnett of the FAU
Library will speak on the British aristocracy, social classes, World War I, the
influenza epidemic and other aspects of the era dramatized in the Popular PBS
series. The talk is at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18 at Spanish River Library.
Admission is free.
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