Catch Me if You Can: Film Review and Interpretation

Review

I got to see Catch me if you can recently with my grandmother. It was based on the on the book by Terrance McNally with Lyrics written by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman and music by Marc Shaiman. It was directed by Keith Dixon. It was performed on the Main Stage at the Spokane Civic Theatre in Spokane, Washington. I saw it on Sunday, October 18th 2015. It ran September 18th through October 18th. It played on Thursdays through Sundays. On Thursdays through Saturday it played at 7:30pm and it played at 2:00 on Sundays. Tickets were $22 for students, $28 for senior/military and $30 for general admission.

The goal of the play was to provide the audience with a fun, high flying experience. They wanted us to get involved and follow with the story of Frank Abgnadle Jr. I believe the play achieved that goal. I told the story of Frank Jr. and lots of comedic parts. I enjoyed the play and wish I could go see it again. I enjoyed mostly because of the storyline. The main actors also played the parts well. I will address this again, but I will be moving on to what the play was about.

The play takes place in the late 1960s and it really takes place all over the U.S! The story follows Frank Abgnadle Jr. and the FBI agent Carl who tries to catch Frank. Frank runs away from home at 16 and using his smarts is able to forge millions of dollars of checks, and become a doctor, pilot and lawyer. FBI agent Carl finds out about Frank’s forgeries and makes it his mission to catch him. The climax occurs when Frank wants to marry a girl named Brenda and tells her to meet him at the airport. The FBI follow Brenda and are able to catch Frank.

One of the elements of the production I feel was effective was the main actors. The actor who played Frank jr. for example, using his facial expressions definitely personified Frank. He portrayed a smart young man who tries his best to make it in the world (and does quite well) just by his facial expressions and the way he spoke. Another example is the actor who played the FBI agent Carl. His movements and voice inflections gave the impression of a 60s style FBI agent! Also, just the way he looked, (a bigger, older gentleman) he could be a 60s agent. The final example of good acting was the actor who played Brenda. She played a young girl in love well. You could always tell when she had an emotion. And when she sang the goodbye song about Frank, it made me want to cry! This is one element that I felt made the production effective.

Another element that I felt was effective in achieving the play’s goal was the singing and dancing. The choreography was fast paced and the dancers made it a fun environment. The singing and music was also fast paced and created a 60s environment. The songs were funny and added character to the characters. They also helped explain more of the character’s personalities. This is the second element that I feel added to the play.

I believe that the production was worth doing. It told a true, interesting story. The story also had themes of the importance of family and finding yourself. The actors played the parts well. The scenes were set well. It fulfilled its purpose. So the play was worth doing.

In conclusion, the play met its purpose of being a fast and fun play. It told the story of Frank Abgnadle. The dancing and songs created the fast and fun environment. The actors told the story well. I had an enjoyable experience at play. It made me laugh at some parts and cry others. I would recommend it to everyone and would go see it again if I could.