CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Reviews — Page 3

I don't think you will get in trouble. It came up on Google news so it is there for the world to see. These reviews aren't that great.

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B- from Entertainment Weekly

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20480885,00.html

Brantley in the Times sure loves Norbert.

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Mr. Butz, who would have made an intriguing Frank a decade ago, here so completely takes on the stoop, shuffle, mumble and pallor of an overworked, middle-aged man that I was afraid his performance might grate. That was before he stopped the show with “Don’t Break the Rules,” a number about how Carl got into police work.

Holding on to his character’s sad sack mannerisms, and leading with his convex belly, Mr. Butz works the friction between Carl’s dumpy, arthritic form and the jivey spiritedness of the song to create a witty portrait of the passion that pulses within one gray, weary soul. The musical comes to ecstatic, surprising life during that song, and it’s all the more exciting because — unlike everything else in “Catch Me if You Can” — you didn’t see it coming.

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Brantley's review is pretty mixed. Not terrible.

Hating this. I really loved the show. Ah, well.

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Shame about these reviews, I think. Wonder if this jeopardizes its chances at a Best Musical nomination. Didn't Priscilla get better reviews than this?

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And the most postitive review of the night (that I've seen at least), has finally arrived. It's actually a rave!! *Finally*
The Huffington Post: 3.5 stars
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/theater-catch-me-if-you-c_b_847263.html

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Updated On: 4/10/11 at 10:12 PM

>That NYT Review (while far from a rave) is probably one of the better of the night - surprising, might give the show some life coming out of otherwise lackluster reviews.<

I wouldn't say it's one of the better reviews. This passage from the Times review is pretty damning.


"Created by much of the team that gave us the long-running Broadway hit “Hairspray” — including the songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the choreographer Jerry Mitchell and the director Jack O’Brien — “Catch Me if You Can” has been constructed with such care that you imagine its transparent blueprint looming between you and the stage. Though the real-life story that inspired this show (and the 2002 movie of the same title) is full of elaborate deceptions and corkscrew twists, you will never at any point be confused by its theatrical incarnation.

Or roused or touched or more than mildly entertained, for about 90 percent of the time. (There is one wow of an exception, a first-act production number led by Norbert Leo Butz.) In the season of the incomprehensible, out-of-control “Spider-Man,” I suppose one should give extra points to a show that is so tidy and utterly of a piece. But a tale that follows a continent-spanning pursuit of a chameleon criminal should have, above all things, momentum. And “Catch Me” mostly just seems to stand in one place, explaining itself."

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This is a little like Mel Brooks

Raves for The producers & negative reviews for his 2 nd show. I did not see this coming. I wonder how much of an impact this will have on its Tony chances. It may be showing up on TKTS & TDF much sooner than expected.

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If someone thinks the NYT review was one of the better reviews tonight, then I am REALLY not looking forward to seeing the show.

To me, Brantley's rave review of Norbert/love of the sets/design, etc. makes it more positive than most. Far better than the AP, Chicago Tribune, etc. Huff Post is a rave but other than that, there weren't many reviews more positive than New York Times.

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I saw the show last night- the last of my weekend trip. I echo PalJoey again tonight- and feel that this was a new musical that I found myself enjoying more than anything in a long time. I think it is a real throw back to the days of showy costumes, a great looking cast, a big bright beautiful orchestration and some great performances all around.

That being said I knew this was coming- the Critics blew their wad on Book of Mormon and now everything else is crap. It reminds me exactly of Next to Normal two years ago- pretty much everything that opened after that was mixed to very negative after they tripped over themselves hailing Next to Normal. This isn't a knock on either Mormon or Normal (have those two words ever been used in the same sentence?), but it seems whenever a new musical gets across the board raves, everything after gets overlooked no matter how good or maybe even great a show it might be.

Too bad because I had the time of my life at the show last night!

The Next to Normal comparison is hardly apt, as it opened up after Billy Elliot, which was just as critically lauded (..if not moreso, actually). And it opened after the lauded revival of Hair. And what else was there in that season after Next to Normal, anyway?

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