Danila Burshteyn portrays Frank Abagnale Jr., who pretends to be an airline pilot, in Masquers Playhouse’s production of ‘Catch Me If You Can: The Musical” onstage in Point Richmond through Dec. 7. (Mike Padua via Bay City News)
“Catch Me If You Can,” the 2002 Steven Spielberg film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, is a chase flick peppered with understated, semi-sophisticated humor. The musical version at the Masquers Playhouse is less subtle. But much funnier.
In many shows, a director’s work is invisible. Here in Point Richmond, it is visible to theater buffs because director Enrico Banson, along with choreographer Katherine Cooper and costume designer Tammara Noleen, have superbly reinvented what was a too-long tale. Now it’s a fast-paced, bouncy musical-comedy that well might keep a smile on your face throughout its 18 musical numbers and two acts.
After tapping your toes, though, you also may leave the theater with a serious aftertaste from some bittersweet themes: father-son relationships, identity, crime and punishment, and redemption.
Banson is also responsible for the projections seamlessly inserted as a backdrop; unlike those in shows trying too hard to be artsy, these images are simple and appropriate to the storyline. A few snippets are real TV clips from the 1960s, the show’s setting. Better yet, some gems are cinematic scenes that were shot beforehand.
“Catch Me If You Can: The Musical,” with score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by Terrence McNally, steals the best lines and scenes from the movie and leaves much of the sluggish stuff behind.
Danila Burshteyn, who has a strong, resounding voice and a perfect countenance, plays Frank Abagnale Jr. in a leading role nearly as captivating and demanding as the Emcee in “Cabaret.”
Burshteyn is the complete singer-actor combo. But, like DiCaprio, being years older than his character, he doesn’t quite impeccably replicate a brash 16-year-old runaway and forger with dreams of stealing millions of dollars before he’s 21.
Abagnale, a comic book reader who struggles with loneliness and a futile yearning to bond with his father, a dapper con man who hands down criminal skills to his son, starts his life of crime by improvising the role of a substitute teacher. Then, pretending, he successfully becomes an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer, everything but an Indian chief. Interestingly, the story stems from a memoir written by the real-life Abagnale.
The framework for the show has Junior spilling his checkered story in a television studio with a flashing applause sign that pulls the Masquers audience into the action. Instead of remorse, he arrogantly claims that he “did it in style.”
Nicole Stanley, who charmingly portrays the momentary love of his life, Brenda Strong, stops the show with her amazingly powerful voice.
Nelson Brown as FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who’s frustratingly chasing master counterfeiter Abagnale Jr., fills out the top-billing slate. Brown has exquisite comic timing but is fittingly detached; the character admits that he’s “never been cool.”
Brown occasionally spews dialogue so quickly; it’s a little hard to hear every word. And the show’s sound is difficult at times, muffling some performers. Also, the seven-piece band at the side of the stage led by music director Camden Daly on keyboards now and then gets so loud, it drowns out the often-sardonic lyrics. Mostly, though, the band provides jazzy, upbeat rhythms that ultimately may be forgettable but in the moment are ear-candy.
At nearly 150 minutes (plus intermission), this version of “Catch Me If You Can: The Musical” may play havoc with your bottom. But despite its drawbacks, it would be a shame for anyone who likes upbeat song-and-dance shows to miss it.
“Catch Me If You Can: The Musical” runs through Dec. 7 at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $30- $35 at masquers.org.
This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http://www.baycitynews.org/contact/.
Contact Sherwood “Woody” Weingarten, a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and author, at voodee@sbcglobal.net, https://woodyweingarten.com or https://vitalitypress.com.
