'Catch Me If You Can' on Broadway: Adaptation could've stuck more closely to the script
BROADWAY REVIEW: “Catch Me If You Can” plays on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., New York; 877-250-2929, or www.catchmethemusical.com.
NEW YORK — The key to turning “Catch Me If You Can” into a Broadway musical was within the very title of the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie that served as the source. It encapsulates the thrill of the chase, a quality sadly lacking in the show that opened Sunday night at the Neil Simon Theatre. And it conveys the slippery charm of the lovable trickster rogue — in this case, Frank Abagnale Jr., the youthful master forger of those predigital swinging '60s, a guy who fooled banks and airlines but was eventually brought down by his own need for love.
Given the appeal of that narrative, and the existence of a deeper plot involving young Frank's search for a father figure and the complex relationship he forges with the paternalistic FBI agent trying to do the catching, “Catch Me If You Can” really should have made a great musical, especially given the talents involved in its conversion. But the show had to have more trust in the story.
As that film (which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks) well understood, but the musical struggles to convey, we don't want to see Frank get caught. We love seeing Frank take down the power brokers and wriggling away, every time. But in this show — with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman — Frank (Aaron Tveit) decides in the first scene, which is really the last scene of his capture, that he wants to be the subject of his own variety show, which then appears around him and functions as an outer frame as one big flashback begins.
It's not so much that this show-within-a-show conceit fundamentally torpedoes the enterprise, although it certainly leads this musical down a derivative path that recalls moments in both “Chicago” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Jack O'Brien's production finds more of a workable style in the vastly superior second act of a show that starts out disastrously and — despite great lyrical wit, a plethora of theatrical ideas and a very rich and truthful performance from Norbert Leo Butz as the tortoise-like G-man racing against a much younger hare — never fully recovers. But as choreographed in outre and overtly burlesque style by Jerry Mitchell, that theatricality often verges on high camp, as when leggy chorus ladies emerge dressed as bottles of glue and ink, staples of Frank's check-forging trade.
Given the way that style, racy and uninhibited though it may be, pervades so much of O'Brien's production, it makes it much harder to buy in emotionally to the themes that the musical brings up more successfully in Act 2. Frankly, the show gets caught between worlds. It doesn't want to fully embrace the caustic “Chicago”-style edge. It also has a powerful and very traditional 11 o'clock number for Kerry Butler, who plays Frank's eventual love, nurse Brenda Strong. But Butler's vocal emotions, rich and strong as they surely feel in this terrific Shaiman melody, “Fly, Fly Away,” seem as curiously out of place as her uncertain performance, mostly because we never see the two youngsters actually falling in love.
Like many prior stage adaptations of movies, “Catch Me” fundamentally struggles with how to stage more plot than time and space allow. Aside from the lack of tension and, in the first act, energy, the other major problem is that the on-stage big band suggests a very different era — you are put in mind of a 1940s cruise ship — from the era of Frank's actual antics in the early 1960s. This yet further removes the audience from the story.
The piece certainly has its enjoyments: Tveit has an extraordinarily beautiful voice; Butz's craftful, big-hearted and wholly unpredictable acting is frequently fascinating to watch; Tom Wopat, as Frank's real father, has an interesting sadness; and the show, which features a set by David Rockwell, has a certain visual pop. But “Catch Me,” alas, didn't fully catch me. Frank slipped off into the night, and I don't feel as if I found him.
Who needs to get emotionally invested in a Broadway musical?! I go to be entertained and I can't believe I was at the same show as the critics. The performance was phenomenal, and I thought the format was perfect for the story. Tveit is gorgeous and has a wonderful voice, and Leo Butz should get a Tony for this. I have never witnessed such an enthusiastic audience as I did at Catch Me If You Can. I can't stop singing the songs and can't wait for the CD to come out. If I were coming in to NYC for a weekend and could only fit in one show, I'd get tickets for this show in a heartbeat!
Posted by: Erica | April 12, 2011 at 11:40 AM
These critics are a bunch of bafoons. I go to NY to see at least 8 shows a year and this show is clearly the best show of 2011. The show has you totally entertained from start to finish. I gave it a perfect 10. "Next to Normal" was great,but this show was even better. I have to see it again. If your coming into the NYC are this year,do not miss this show. You will remember this play for the rest of your life. If you want a 5 star show "Catch me if You can" will give you the 5 stars you demand from your money.
Posted by: Bob | April 12, 2011 at 02:16 PM
This show was wonderful. There was a smile on my face from the first fabulous number till the last moment when the whole audience was in agreement with a standing ovation and screams of joy. Butz was unbelievable; Wopat did a fine job and the young lead Tveit had a great voice, a wonderful personality and handled the part as if he were Frank Abigale. The critics' review was WRONG and I hope the people come out and support this show because it was pure entertainment. Who cares if it did not follow the movie; it is a Broadway show and it was great!!!
Posted by: Diane Prignano | April 17, 2011 at 07:54 PM
I saw How to Succeed and Catch Me If You Can back to back over the weekend. Radcliffe and Tveit give star turns, and co-stars Butz and Johnfo LaRoquette provide lots of laughs. Both shows dazzle the eyes and you leave the theatres feeling a terrific high. Yes, there are similarities, and even schtick that's the same, but for two and a half hours, your get solid entertainment. Can you ask for more than that?
Posted by: Brian Stein | April 21, 2011 at 11:40 PM