CATCH ME IF YOU CAN SPOTLIGHT NIGHT!

Tags:

Catch_Frontpage

Broadway royalty right here in Seattle!

It was a little surreal to be honest. Seriously. I was only a few rows away from Bob Mackie.

Last night I went to The 5th Avenue Theatre's Spotlight Night for CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, the new musical premiering in Seattle starting July 23.

The theatre was packed, and there was a palpable electricity. Forget the fact that the event was free (yes, you heard me, free!), it was one of the most enjoyable, exciting nights in theatre I've had!

Spotlight nights are hosted by David Armstrong, the Producing Artistic Director of The 5th Avenue Theatre and are a great way to familiarize yourself with upcoming shows - hearing songs performed, learning the history behind the show, meeting the creative team, as well as gaining new, interesting perspective on shows you already know. The CATCH ME IF YOU CAN spotlight gave insight on the creation of an exciting, new musical!

The evening was divided into three acts:

Act I

The Incredible True Story!

David recounted Frank Abagnale's true crime adventures on both sides of the law and discussed this with special guest, Ken Kirkpatrick, President of US BANK, Washington State. Ken had actually hired Frank not so long ago to consult on bank security and fraud so he had lots of interesting anecdotes about this incredibly charismatic man (everyone throughout the evening commented on how charismatic Frank Abagnale is, and how he can walk into a room and suddenly command all attention!) and tips on how to avoid bank fraud - micro shredder and the uni-ball pen (it can't be erased from a cheque with acetone unlike other pens.) When Ken asked Frank whether it would be harder to pull of his fraud nowadays versus in the 60s, he said that today it would be far easier to do everything! Downloading logos, lifting signatures, wiring money...but I digress!

Act II

Meet The Dream Team

Songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (HAIRSPRAY), playwright Terrence McNally (THE FULL MONTY), director Jack O'Brien (HAIRSPRAY), choreographer Jerry Mitchell (HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE), musical director John McDaniel , and legendary costume designer Bob Mackie gave an inside look into how a Broadway musical is conceived and created. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman told the story of how they were looking around a bookstore and Scott saw a CATCH ME IF YOU CAN movie book on display and said, Hey how about that? So they bought it, and called Steven Spielberg the next day and they were on their way! I was most intrigued by the description of how they were taking the film and putting it on stage. They weren't going to compete with the movie's ability to show Frank's narrow escapes from the law or just put the movie on stage. Instead, The songs/scenes would be how Frank would view the characters as if they were in a big tv show spectacular. The mid 60s was the time of tv variety shows and specials, with a variety of musical styles from Frank Sinatra to The Rolling Stones. So, Marc and Scott went for a sort of Ed Sullivan Show soundtrack! It sounds very, very cool. We saw Bob Mackie's sketches for the costumes and they look absolutely fabulous. It was so special to be able to listen to this team talk about putting this show together.

The whole team agreed that four weeks of rehearsal might seem like a long time, but they have a lot of work to do so it will fly by!

Act III

Meet The Stars

Norbert Leo Butz, who plays the Tom Hanks FBI agent character Hanratty, Aaron Tveit, who plays Frank Jr., and Tom Wopat, who plays Frank Sr. all performed songs from the show (Fifty Cheques, I'm Good At What I Do, Happy Ending, Making Butter Out of Cheese, Seven Wonders). Wow, all three of these guys were amazing. I got chills!l And they also announced that Kerry Butler, and Felicia Finley (who played Linda in THE WEDDING SINGER) will be in the show. dThis is going to be an amazing cast!

Oh, and one more piece of trivia - the song that Neil Patrick Harris sang at the end of the Tony Awards night was actually written that night, over the course of the awards, by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman! They said it was like putting together a puzzle, and they had lots of options to go with depending on who won the awards (the Fonda/Honda rhyme never made it into the song!)

Hurry and get tickets to see CATCH ME IF YOU CAN live and in living color!



By Suzy Conn on June 10, 2009 9:16 PM | | Comments (0)


Leave a comment