Catch Me if You Can ; LA tour — Page 2

nsguy45 - just curious, what was the difference in show between Seattle and Broadway ?

We got to see Aaron Tveit in a swimsuit in Seattle :)

I saw the tour in Houston and found it to be fun and charming. I did not see it on Broadway. I have also never seen the movie. So, I can't compare it to anything else...

Check out my review...




BWW Reviews: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - A Guaranteed Good Time

Updated On: 3/17/13 at 12:19 PM

"I also saw the show in both Seattle and Broadway and agree that it was better out of town. The set and costumes actually felt cheaper to me on Broadway."

Bob Mackie did the costumes in Seattle. It's a bummer that his partner was dying and he couldn't continue on with the show.

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Sorry - this is a bit of a thread-jack but Jack Hughes writes:
"Anything Goes" was the worst thing I ever saw in my life. I don't know who the hell wrote the music for that piece of trash but I agree: offensive mindless crap.

I'll give you mindless..it is after all a 1930's farce. But the score contains "I get a Kick Out of You", "All Through the Night", "You're the Top", "Blow, Gabriel Blow" and "Anything Goes" - 5 songs out of the original 12 that became popular standards. Plus the revised revival adds a few other Porter gems: "It's Delovely", "Friendship" and "Easy to Love" making it a veritable Porter smorgasbord.

But you raise an interesting question for me..do those of us who like ANYTHING GOES give it pass because it was written in 1934 as a vehicle for Ethel Merman and features (next to KISS ME, KATE) one of Cole Porter's best scores? Do we let history override its flaws? This was, after all one of the biggest hits of the 1930's, and one of the few shows of that era to be still revived regularly.

I doubt if CATCH ME IF YOU CAN will still be revived in 70 years.

And that brings us back to the topic at hand.

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I have got to say I don't think the cast in this tour is anywhere nearly as talented as the original Broadway cast -- don't get me wrong, I did find Stephen to be of great potential for his age and he did a good job the night I saw him. But comparing to Tveit? Or to lead a show of this size? He still has got a long way to go. He probably has the most awkward movements on stage among all the leading men that I have ever seen. He suffers pitch problems every now and then. He did good for a kid fresh out of college, but a leading man he is not, And Frank Abagnale Jr.? Impossible. Power and charisma is nowhere to be seen. He came off as such an awkward high schooler doing a school production --- which makes the already badly-told story even less convincing. Really? A con-man who successfully passed himself as different identities and forged millions of fake checks and escaped from multiple FBI hunt-down?

Neither Agent Hanratty of Frank Sr. is near as good as the Broadway cast. The ensemble is not at the same level either. But it's a non-eq tour, so what can you say.

What I think of the musical is not a good one, yet it can still be entertaining if the cast is good --- especially the leading men (con-man and FBI), and especially especially the con-man. If they can't find two guys with enough charisma to hold this show, it sure is a flop and will be hard to sit through.

is this a show you think that community theaters and regional theaters could do a great job putting on? as well as putting it on regularly?