Variety says odds of Catch Me if You Can making it to Broadway are looking GOOD!

Variety believes that the oddds of "Catch Me if You Can" making it to Broadway are looking good due to the positive reviews it got. From what I've seen I think the show has a lot of potential.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007222.html?categoryid=3689&cs=1

Updated On: 8/12/09 at 09:26 PM

Hopefully it does.

It was being treated as a regional production not a "direct" try out.

"I think there's something wrong with that link."

I fixed it.

I personally haven't seen the show or heard the score but I'm sure that it will be a huge ticket seller on Broadway based on the starpower alone. They aren't Matthew Broderick/Nathan Lane big names, but Tom Wopat, Norbert Butz, and Aaron Tveit will bring in huge audiences. I really hope this show can rise out of the ashes of some of the other movies to musicals that are crashing and burning.

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These people are not house hold names.

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That's untrue. First of all, "Among people who know theatre" is such a generic statement and to apply it at all weakens your argument. Tom Wopat has his share of fans, no doubt, from "The Dukes of Hazzard", but he isn't bringing in a large crowd, as "A Catered Affair" showed. Norbert Leo Butz has an even smaller fanbase, and Aaron Tveit has the smallest of all. In fact, "among people who know theatre", you would have to describe him as "the cute kid from Next to Normal" in order for them to understand. And even some of them would have trouble with that.

I know you stated that they aren't Broadway stars on the same level of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, but you DID say that they would bring in huge crowds. You DID say that ticket sales would be huge based on the star power alone. And that's untrue. This thing will sell because of its title. And, hopefully, off of good buzz.

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You guys are precious, loving all of it.

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The 25 people that post on BWW do not fill a house (and most don't even buy full price tickets anyway!) and few beyond BWW and ATC will have any idea who Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit are.

As we've seen with 9 to 5, Young Frankenstein, The Wedding Singer, Tarzan, et al. title recognition does not guarantee any sort of success. This show will be a hit with good word of mouth and a good marketing campaign and not because of any sort of name that is currently attached to it.

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I saw the clip of the opening song on 5th Avenue's YouTube and loved it.

I do hope it goes to Broadway.

It could end up like THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, which was also based on a successful movie, came into NY without a 'bankable star' (Sutton who?) and went on to develop good word of mouth, win the Tony, and have a respectable run. What makes me a little nervous is that should the show come to New York and be a hit, once Aaron leaves the show it could become a dumping ground for American Idol runner-ups. But that's way down the road, now isn't it?

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^ I'd say she's fairly well known in the theatre world, alongside Norbert.

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Butler was on a soap, right? Not that I think anyone remembers or cares, but just tossing that out there.

The show will need good reviews and a good word-of-mouth to be successful. Cry-Baby had no real stars in it except its creative team and the title, and it flopped, so we'll see. So far I'm not exactly loving what I'm hearing or seeing.