Monday, April 8, 2013

Review of Catch Me If You Can (Broadway in Chicago)

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Catch Me If You Can and it was about a guy who made a lot of bad decisions. And the guy's name was Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Stephen Anthony). He had crushes on a bunch of different girls and he made fake checks and turned them into the bank. He had lots of different professions that he didn't actually do them; he didn't have any training so he had to make fake i.d.s that said he did do that profession. He did do the actual work, but he didn't do it well. He was a pilot and he was a doctor and he also said he was a lawyer. He is actually the hero, kind of. You are kind of saying, "don't let that policeman catch you!" But you are also kind of thinking, "Policeman, go and catch him!" This play, Catch Me If You Can, is actually based on a real man's life. You would think, "this is just a fake story"--because he does all these horribly-weird and why-would-you-do-that? things. It is fun to watch it because you shouldn't actually do these things and then you don't have to because you can just watch this person do them and it won't hurt anybody.

In the play they had this song which was sung by the detective/policeman Hanratty (Merritt David Janes) who wanted to get our "hero." It was about why he got into the FBI--because he wanted everybody to obey the rules. Why did he want everybody to obey the rules? Because when he was a kid he was very serious and he always wanted people to obey the rules in games and stuff like that. And when they played gangster and policemen he always wanted to be the policeman and never he wanted to be the crook. I liked that character's singing because that character wasn't exactly somebody who would be a rock star or something like that, but he still could sing really well. He didn't seem like a character that would dance either, but he danced like he was in a musical--which he was in one, but he wouldn't be in one if this story was real--he would be having his actual life being in the FBI. I thought that that was a funny element to this musical.

There was one song I thought that showed you how much Frank really liked girls because the only reason he became a doctor was because there were nurses. It was called "Doctor's Orders," and he was singing with a bunch of ladies, and he started flirting with all the nurses. They were dressed like nurses in old-fashioned t.v. shows and they were dancing like can-can dancers. It is important to know that he likes nurses because that is one of his faults. You should become a doctor because you want to be a doctor not because there are girls. When he became a pilot, it also had to do with girls because there are flight attendants. He needs to find the girl that he really likes and not just one just that he finds and thinks is pretty--because he thinks every single one is pretty!


There was this one song that was called "Fly, Fly Away" that I thought was really pretty and touching. Frank's fiancee Brenda (Aubrey Mae Davis) sings the song because she's sad that he's leaving and she's singing about how she wants him to come back to her. But at the end of the play he says that she married a real doctor--somebody who actually wasn't queasy at the sight of blood. When she went away and married somebody else it was because she knew Frank wasn't going to come back because she'd been waiting so long. She liked Frank because he was actually in love with her too not like the other man who was supposed to marry her before Frank. I thought she had an amazing voice!

One of the last songs was called "Good-Bye." And you would think that meant "Good-bye, that's the end of the show." But it didn't; there was one more song. But "Good-bye" is about him saying "Good-bye, that's the end of the show, there's nothing else to see." He is saying that because he doesn't want to go to jail. And if the show keeps going, he's going to jail. The writers (Terrence McNally, Scott Wittman, and Marc Shaiman) thought, "Oh, wow, wouldn't that be awesome if Frank just wanted everybody to leave the show before he went to jail so that it wouldn't actually happen." It shows us that he is saying "My life is just a play; my life doesn't actually exist" because then he doesn't have to go to jail. Wouldn't it be funny if everybody left and they didn't get to perform the song?!

People who would like this show are people who like FBI agents, fake checks, and nurses! I think this show should be for ages 7 and up because kids who are 6 might not understand why he is so obsessed with ladies. People should go see this show because it has some great acting and it is an awesome fun story that they bring to life in a very cool way. It is a broadway musical and an autobiography at the same time.

Photos: Carol Rosegg

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