CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Reviews- Page 3

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 9:58pm

Variety is fairly mixed - it's a subscription only and technically I can get in trouble by copying it here, but I'll give you some quotes.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945004
“That musical sound and the perfs from Butz and Tveit (with assists from the briefly seen Butler and Hart) offer considerable entertainment value. Sadly, though, this “Catch” of the day is not especially compelling.”
--Note: Sorry I'm posting all of these - I'm signed up through google alerts so they're all getting emailed to me haha and no one else has, so I'm posting what I get.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:02pm

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.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:03pm

New York Times is up.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/theater/reviews/catch-me-if-you-can-at-neil-simon-theater-review.html

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:04pm

B- from Entertainment Weekly

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

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:06pm

Entertainment Weekly once again praised the cast, but didn't think the show was perfect.

"Tveit seems perfectly suited to playing Frank Abagnale Jr., who drops out of high school to pursue improbable consecutive careers as a check forger, Pan Am pilot, pediatrician, and assistant district attorney. In the Tom Hanks role of the FBI agent pursuing Abagnale, Norbert Leo Butz seems an appropriately schlumpy bureaucrat. Butz, who won a Tony for playing a small-time swindler himself in 2005's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, gets a first-act song-and-dance showstopper, 'Don't Break the Rules' — and then mostly recedes into the background."

The show's love interest (the Amy Adams role from the film) is also generally MIA until rather late in the show, though she's occasionally trotted out as foreshadowing in the first act. It's another bit of misdirection, but a smart one because it gives the adorable Kerry Butler a little more stage time. When she finally appears as nurse Brenda, Butler delivers one of the show's most memorable tunes, the lovely ballad 'Fly, Fly Away.'



Updated On: 4/10/11 at 10:06 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:07pm

Brantley in the Times sure loves Norbert.

===

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.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:09pm

Brantley hit the nail on the head. The score really does have the tendency to sound like elevator music. Updated On: 4/10/11 at 10:09 PM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:10pm

Brantley's review is pretty mixed. Not terrible.

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

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:10pm

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.
Meanwhile - USA Today is fairly mixed as well: http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2011-04-11-catchme11_ST_N.htm
"Still, in failing to deliver a youthful protagonist you can really cheer for, this Catch Me If You Can may leave you feeling a bit cheated."

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:11pm

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?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:12pm

Butz is getting the best marks for anything in the show, it seems. He is quite good, as usual. Should be interesting to see if they campaign him for Leading or Featured.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:12pm

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

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

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:13pm

Mixed Review from USA Today. (* * ½ out of four) They liked Norbert the best.

"But that charm wears thin over 2½ hours in which Frank Jr. and his exploits are so dominant. The musical is structured so that we see our mischievous finagler crafting his own story, introducing some numbers and then literally trying to sing and dance his way out of trouble. It's a canny conceit, but one that only emphasizes the character's disingenuousness.

Norbert Leo Butz is predictably marvelous as Carl Hanratty, the schlumpy federal agent who stalks and eventually nails the underage schemer — though not as handily as Butz walks away with the show.

Butz imbues Carl (played by Tom Hanks in the film) with wry humor and bittersweet humanity. It's no accident that Tveit's Frank Jr. is more sympathetic in his scenes with Carl, who emerges both as a father figure and a fellow lonely soul.

Butz also handles the musical numbers with an ease that often trumps Tveit's more aggressive virtuosity. Certainly, Butz is more adept at milking Shaiman's jazzy nuances, which nod tothe more sophisticated side of '60s pop culture, from James Bond to Sinatra"

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2011-04-11-catchme11_ST_N.htm

I hope this show does not end up like "9 to 5."
Updated On: 4/10/11 at 10:13 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:17pm

>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."

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:19pm

Now for the big question: do they attempt to/bill Norbert as featured - in which case he'd almost definitely win, given all of these raves about him personally. Or are they forced to/let him go against Tveit - which seems to be a far less favorable scenario. At most only 1 award out of the 2 categories and they could split votes so neither would win.

I don't know the exact qualifications to determine if an actor is "featured" or not - maybe someone can shed some light on this.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:20pm

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.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:25pm

Mr. R, it's already been on both.

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:25pm

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

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:25pm

New York Times is definitely not one of the most positive reviews. With the exception of the Huffington post, the reviews have either been mixed, or negative.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:27pm

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.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:31pm

To Adam

I am aware of that fact. I mean more frequently than anyone expected.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:31pm

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!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:35pm

I'm holding on to all of the positive sentiments in the reviews...

Hope there are a few more!

Updated On: 4/10/11 at 10:35 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:35pm

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?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/10/11 at 10:38pm

Musical-wise, there was only one more show that opened after next to normal that season: 9 to 5. And, well...