Teen con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr. is once again scamming his way across the country—but this time he’s doing it “Live In Living Color”—in Musical Theatre West’s pizzazzy spring offering Catch Me If You Can, the big-stage musical adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s popular 2002 biopic.

Moviegoers will recall Leonardo Di Caprio’s performance as a teenager so adept at lying that he executed millions of dollars’ worth of cons by convincing folks he was (among other things) a PanAm pilot, an ER doctor, and a full-fledged attorney—and by forging checks to the tune of millions.

Tom Hanks played FBI bank fraud agent Carl Hanratty, whose Inspector Javert-like pursuit of Frank Jr. inspired Abagnale’s autobiography, adapted for Broadway in 2011 with songs by Hairspray Tony-winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by four-time Tony champ Terrence McNally.

McNally opens the show with Frank Jr.’s capture at Miami International Airport, Frank (Jacob Haren) promising Carl (Jeff Skowron) to confess all of his crimes on condition that the FBI agent allow him to tell his story like a 1960s peacock-hued variety hour.

And so with Carl looking on, we flash back to Frank’s early years as a New Rochelle teen living with his Italian-American dad Frank Sr. (Michael Corbett) and Parisian mom Paula (Sandy Bainum) but dreaming of a life beyond suburban New York.

When his family’s financial woes rule out a return to private school, Frank Jr. wears his old uniform it to his new public high school, gets taken for a member of the faculty, and poses successfully as a substitute French teacher—for a few days at least.

Then, when his parents’ decision to divorce means choosing between Dad and Mom, Frank Jr. makes up his mind to hit the road and live in “Someone Else’s Skin.”

Before long, Frank has not only cashed forged check after forged check (to the tune of millions), he has faked himself a PanAm ID the better to live life as a member of the fabled “Jet Set” with FBI agent Carl stepping amusingly into the action in attempt to discover the identity of “The Man Behind The Clues.”

Forget that Catch Me If You Can flopped on Broadway, its truth-as-TV-special conceit proves inspired.

There’s hardly a song that doesn’t get its own production number backed by a chorus line’s worth of stunning stewardesses or statuesque nurses or pulchritudinous FBI agents, the showgirl-tall ladies in question sporting leg-revealing uniforms that a more realistic staging would never allow.

Last but not least, Catch Me If You Can serves up a surprisingly touching love story between Frank Jr. and nurse Brenda Strong (Katie Sapper), a romance that allows us to discover in Frank the soul of a romantic to match the father-son relationship that develops unexpectedly between pursuer and pursued.

Under Larry Raben’s snappy direction, the always astonishing Skowron vanishes into Hanratty’s nerdy, bespectacled Midwest skin (and proves quite a showman when the occasion arises), and though Haren looked closer to Frank Jr.’s age when he played him at Moonlight Stages five years ago, he once again invests the part with infectious charm, power pipes, and some fancy-dancy footwork.

Luminous San Diego favorite Sapper belts gorgeously to the back row as girl-next-door Brenda, Bainum gives bouffant blonde Paula beaucoup de French flair, Corbett proves a dramatic powerhouse as Frank Abagnale, Sr., the fabulous Rebecca Spencer makes for a still lusty Southern belle of a certain age as Brenda’s mom Carol, and Doug Carfrae scores as always as her stuffier dad.

Richard Bulda, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, and Jonathan Sangster give The Three Stooges a run for their comedic money as FBI agents Branton, Dollar, and Cod, Jennifer Knox has a saucy cameo as redheaded call girl Cheryl Ann.

All four of the above do double duty in Catch Me If You Can’s sensational triple-threat ensemble completed by Claudia Baffo, Katie Barna, Bailey Blaise, Calvin Brady, Laurne Decierdo, Annie Hinskton, Evin Johnson, Graham Keen, Jenna Lea Rosen, Isabella Olivas, Simoné Sassudelli, and Louis Williams, Jr., with special snaps to an uncredited Baffo’s rafters-reaching vocals in “Doctor’s Orders.”

Choreographer Peggy Hickey pays effervescent tribute to ‘60s-TV variety show-style footwork in one high-energy, high-kicking dance number after another, backed by musical director Dennis Castellano and the production’s Broadway-caliber pit orchestra with Audio Production Geeks, LLC providing an expert sound design mix.

Catch Me If You Can’s rented sets, props, and costumes (whose original designers receive no program credit) as well as Anthony Gagliardi’s bevy of showgirl wigs make the production look every bit as saturated-color vivid as the NBC Peacock that opens the show, particularly as backed by ‘60s-style scene-setting projections and vibrantly lit by Paul Black.

Tamara Becker is costumer. Bree Sherry is stage manager and Nicki Heskin is assistant stage manager. Kevin Clowes is technical director. Matt Terzigni is production manager. Bren Thor is company manager.

Some sexual content and a “Crime Almost Pays” message make Musical Theatre West’s latest too PG-13 for the kiddies, but for grownups in the mood for some Vegas-worthy pizzazz (and a story that may even tug at your heartstrings along the way), Catch Me If You Can can’t be beat.

Musical Theatre West, Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach.
www.musical.org

–Steven Stanley
March 30, 2019
Photos: Caught In The Moment Photography

Tags: Frank Abagnale Jr., Los Angeles Theater Review, Marc Shaiman, Musical Theatre West, Scott Wittman, Terrence McNally