Based on the Leonardo DiCaprio film, Catch Me If You Can is a musical filled with excitement and flash. The story is based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., a young man wanted for check fraud during the ‘60s who later became an important person working for the FBI.
The musical starts off at the end of the story, where Frank (Aaron Tveit) acknowledges the audience and tells them his story with big flashy dance numbers with a traditional female chorus (not seen much now on Broadway). When he was 16 years old, his parents split. His father, a “schemer” himself, was no longer able to pay the bills, forcing his mother to have an affair with another man. Frank takes this opportunity to run away from the 
problem and start up a better life for himself, hoping one day to be able to repay his father for everything and get his parents back together.
He learned all about checks: how they were made, where they were routed, and how they worked. He weaseled his way up quickly into becoming a co-pilot for Pan Am airlines. He did this by posing as a student writing an article for his school newspaper and interviewed Pan Am personnel. By taking pictures and learning pilot lingo, he was able to pretend he was a pilot and get free flights and uniforms from the airline.
When he realized he was being noticed, as the Skyway Man, Frank decided to lay low a little in the south. He lived in a neighborhood that was full of partiers. One day he found himself in a hospital and decided to become a doctor. He forged a Harvard Doctor certificate and was given a job in the ER, though he became nauseous at the sight of blood. There, he met a cute nurse named Brenda (Kerry Butler), and ended up proposing to her. When meeting her parents, he told them he’s also a lawyer (because Brenda’s father is a lawyer). He passed the bar exam by studying for two weeks and then got his license.
He is eventually caught by Hanratty (Norbert Leo Butz), the FBI agent obsessed with Frank’s case. Though sentenced to years in prison, Hanratty finds him useful because he knows so much about fake checks and checking fraud. Frank ends up working in the FBI along with Hanratty and has created many of the important checks used today.
The show was not only an exciting one due to the story, but the song and dance made it loads of fun. Even someone who knows the story beforehand will enjoy this production.
Catch Me If You Can
Neil Simon Theatre
June 5, 2011
Marina B. Nebro
Technology
Catch Me If You Can | Theatre