Of every Steven Spielberg movie to adapt into a musical, Catch Me If You Can makes the most sense. On a narrative level, the cat and mouse structure means that there's always the promise of madcap adventures set alongside the colorful pallet of bright 60's pastiche. It's likely the reason that Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) tackled the subject head-on and brought forth a show just as delightful and sugary. Musical Theater West brought Catch Me If You Can The Musical to the Carpenter Center with one of the most fun spectacles in their recent season of shows. Thanks in large part to their lead actors (Jacob Haren and Jeff Skowron), the show never runs out of steam even as con man Frank Abagnale Jr. (Haren) is finally cornered. In fact, it's only another excuse to break out into song. Even as the show finds the deeper soul of this true story, it can't help but be a good time. For all of its flaws, the show works as sheer entertainment and a loving ode to a bygone era.
The story opens on the backdrop of an airport where Frank is seen running away from gunfire. While the background has an art style reminiscent of the film, the story still remains serious for another few minutes. Agent Carl Hanratty (Skowron) has finally caught Frank and is eager to put him away. The scene looks dire. One has to wonder what is about to happen. With the tension building and the drama raising sweat off the actors, it looks like this musical is about to be over before it even gets going. To believe this is to underestimate the charisma of Frank's character. Amid the reality that things are over for him, he can't help but thrust aside what's real and create a grand story of his life. As he tosses his hat off stage and the NBC peacock appears behind him, the show, like Frank, reveals its true forms.
The opening song, "Live in Living Color," plays as the airport scene disappears and prop TVs on stage begin to shine different hues. It's a lavish number that calls back to old variety shows that embraced extravagant decor. Frank, in a sense, is one of those hosts who through the song introduces the entire show. The back-up dancers are "The Frank Abagnale Jr. Players" and the orchestra is "The Frank Abagnale Jr. Orchestra." It's a simple gag, but it helps to establish just how much control Frank has over not only the audience but everything on stage. What's to follow is ostensibly heightened drama through clever pastiche. Even Carl spends the first quarter of the show merely gawking from the sidelines as Frank's story unravels.
The show's defining feature is its spectacle, which has power over the audience. Along with the TVs that line the stage, the backdrops feel formatted to fit the artifice of TV and cinema from the '50s and '60s. Frank's youth is presented almost exclusively through black-and-white props on Christmas (even the tree is white). Carl's office life recalls film noir with a darker pallet and an orchestra playing boozy horns of loneliness. The musical numbers feature dancers doing everything from erotic striptease to Carl leading a great ensemble dance number set to a song that pays cheeky homage to detectives. The show isn't lacking any style and in fact, shines brightest with it. While it could be seen as Frank projecting extravagance to hide his own emptiness, it works as sheer entertainment. Even the show's knowing awareness of its artifice, such as when Carl asks the band to cut a song short, gives the show depth.
What keeps it from ever feeling like hollow comedy however is that the show knows what matters. Frank is a man who early and often admits to slipping into "Someone Else's Skin." He can't help but lie his way out of trouble. While it is helpful, it means that he can't connect to anyone but his equally deceitful father Frank Sr. (Michael Corbett), whose marriage to mother Paula (Sandy Bainum) is quite tragic. There's sadness that Frank Jr. is running away from, and it's reflected in the rightful eye of Carl, whose lack of family makes him the perfect antithesis. Chasing Frank is the only satisfaction he has. He's "married to his job" as it were, and like Frank running from the truth, Carl runs to maintain his own. The drama builds in the second half to a satisfying conclusion that keeps the show from feeling like two actors constantly winking at the audience after every goofy joke.
The show is charismatic, managing to find heart through spectacle. It helps that Haren's lead performance perfectly captures a con artist managing to manipulate every second of the show. The audience is compelled by what he has to say, even as it accidentally reveals something sadder and more real about him. The show is draped in wonderful artifice but finds heart underneath. In fact, the only thing that oddly doesn't work as well is the music. While the dance routines are often stunning and compliment the physical comedy of the show, the lyrical and music components come across too much as an homage. It keeps the show upbeat, but it never achieves something more memorable and essential. The lyrics are cheeky and have a few good jokes, though be warned that first-timers may have trouble understanding it all due to some moments being sung in a higher pitch by an ensemble. It doesn't hurt the show, but it does serve as the part of the show that feels too familiar and least interesting. It's the rare time where the drama surpasses the musical component almost every time. With that said, the cast is talented enough to make the moments at least interesting both through excellent singing and more memorable dancing.
Catch Me If You Can The Musical is an odd little show that has a lot going for it. Based off of one of Spielberg's most fun movies, it takes the madcap story and finds a way to mix giant spectacle with a deeper heart. By the end, there's something sincere and sweet that the audience discovers in the musical numbers. They're left understanding the importance of why these two men were running. Thankfully the show is a lot of fun and features great lead performances by Haren and Skowron. It may not have the best music, but it still has an impeccable drive to entertain and explore the art of storytelling through a story that constantly breaks the fourth wall, but only to challenge the audience into understanding how the characters operate within the bigger story. For all of its faults, it's still a pretty good time at the theater.
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