"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN"
at the Neil Simon Theater
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If one would have had to predict... this one certainly had the appearance of a likely winner. "Catch Me if You Can" was created by top pro's, starring top pro's, and based upon a highly successful book and film.
But the opening of "Catch Me if You Can" on Broadway is another reminder of just how difficult it is to create a wholly satisfying Broadway musical....
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The new musical "Catch Me if You Can" is adapted from the hit 2002 DreamWorks film of the same directed by Stephen Spielberg and starring Leonardio DaCaprio and Tom Hanks; the film was in turn based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by Frank Abignale Jr. Both told the story of Frank Abignale Jr., a real-life con artist who successfully passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and an airline pilot--all before reaching the age of 21!
The creative team assembled for the Broadway production includes such highly respected writers as Terrence McNally (book), Marc Shaiman (music and lyrics), Scott Whitman (lyrics). Jack O'Brien was brought in to direct, and Jerry Mitchell to choreograph. Actors Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz were cast in the Leonardo DaCaprio/Tom Hanks roles. And Tom Wopat was cast in an important supporting role, as the father of the young con artist.
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With all of that talent, hopes were high that this would be a blockbuster smash hit.
But it's not. It's one of those shows that most people will probably put in that "pretty good, but not great" category that makes producers justifiably nervous.
It's a show with some good moments. And it makes for a fairly entertaining evening. And I'd honestly like it to succeed.
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But "pretty good" and "fairly entertaining" are not the same as "you've got to see this one." And opening right around the same time as some other shows that have "hit" stamped all over them--including "The Book of Mormon" and "Priscilla"--I'm wondering if this show is going to find the audiences it needs to survive.
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| Creating a successful Broadway musical requires some elements of luck and chemistry and magic that simply are not here. The book doesn't quite work. We're not drawn in the way we should be. We don't see the con artist as the underdog, deserving of our support, the way we did in the film.
In addition, the casting turns out to be not as ideal as it might have initially seemed.
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Yes, Tveit has a gorgeous singing voice. And yes, he's gorgeous to look at it. But he doesn't come across as quite as likeable, quite as irresistibly charming as Leonardo DaCaprio did in the film. DaCaprio's character conned everybody--and audiences were rooting for him all the way. He seemed like such a nice guy, putting one over on the establishment. We wanted him to get away with it.
Tveit does not have that same sort of innate likeability. Norbert Leo Butz, playing the FBI man seeking to capture him, does have it. And I found myself, at times, more sympathetic towards Butz's character than towards the amoral con man. I found myself, at times, more on the side of the FBI agent than of the con man. But it simply can't be that way, if the musical is to really succeed.
I hope the show does succeed somehow. The basic story remains intriguing. Norbert Leo Butz is always interesting to watch in this show; he's a fascinating actor. And I really like some of the buoyant musical numbers, which have a nice, old-school Broadway feel, with suggestions of a Sinatra-at-the-Sands kind of swing sensibility. It's an appealing score. But with ticket prices as high as they are on Broadway, will there be enough ticket buyers out there to support this good-but-not-a-must-see kind of show? Time will tell.
-- Jimmy Jones
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