Catch Me If You Can and the Truth

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/16/25 at 10:10pm

I recently saw that the Mariott Theatre in Chicago will be producing Catch Me If You Can next month, and in it's show description, it says:

"Based on the hit film and the incredible true story, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is the delightfully entertaining musical comedy about chasing your dreams and not getting caught."

That description is pulled directly from Music Theatre International's page for the show, but it's got me curious: can we still market Catch Me If You Can as an "incredible true story", with how many of Frank Abagnale's claims have been categorically disproven?

It's not a new observation that musicals based on true stories (or biographical stories in any medium, for that matter) adjust, embellish, or completely fabricate elements of their source material for dramatic effect. But Gypsy or Evita never had an entire book (in this case, Alan C Logan's The Greatest Hoax on Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can) exposing them as complete fictions.

I'm sure you could fix this with clear directorial intent that identifies Frank as an unreliable narrator (he is one of the world's most famous con artists, after all), but advertising it as a "true" story leads one to believe that the production will be taking a very straightforward and uncritical approach to the show.

If there's a future for Catch Me If You Can (which I think it's score deserves), will it need to adapt it's presentation to the more nuanced reality of Frank Abagnale's relationship to the Truth? Or will it continue the legacy of taking a liar at his word and presenting the show as is?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/16/25 at 10:34pm

Don’t have anything useful to add, but I agree!