Catch Me If You Can The Musical

This was my second encounter with OCPAC and I was again blown away by the professionalism of the production.

Though I hadn’t seen the film, I was aware of Catch Me If You Can the Musical and pleasantly surprised to see how well it adapted to the stage. The music was strongly influenced by jazz, which was very suitable for the subject matter.

The bare stage had a walkway at the back, allowing for different levels, and various pieces of furniture were moved on and off as appropriate, allowing the action to flow. The lighting was excellent.

Doing much of the heavy lifting was James Watkinson as the fraudster, Frank Abignale Jnr. His easy manner and excellent music theatre tenor were ideally suited to this role. As his nemisis, Special Agent Carl Hanratty, Alexander Hatzikostas gave an edgy performance of this obsessed policeman.

Andrew Dempster and Gracie O’Neill were Frank’s dysfunctional parents, both with excellent voices and strong acting. Belle Power was delightful as Frank’s fiancée Brenda.

There were no weak links here. The choreography was tight, there were many excellent voices, sometimes with just a line or two. This was a high energy show.

The only problem was the sound. The band, excellent as they were, were often too loud for the audience to catch all the words, and many times there was dialogue over the music.

But this was a minor blemish in a highly entertaining evening.

Graham Ford

Photographer: Ben Fon.

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