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‘Catch Me If You Can’ musical gets Broadway opening date

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‘Catch Me If You Can,’ the new stage musical based on the hit Steven Spielberg movie of the same name, has been rumored for Broadway ever since readings and workshops were held as early as 2005. Now the big-budget production has secured an opening date on the Great White Way.

The musical is scheduled to officially open April 10, with previews beginning March 7. Organizers have not announced a theater. Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have penned the songs for the musical, and playwright Terrence McNally has written the book.

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Jack O’Brien, the multiple-Tony-winning director, will stage the musical for Broadway.

Spielberg’s 2002 film starred Leonardo DiCaprio as the con artist Frank Abnagale Jr., who posed as an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer and more while cashing bogus checks worth millions of dollars. The movie itself was adapted from Abnagale’s memoir, which was co-written by Stan Redding.

The movie also starred Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, the latter of whom received a supporting-actor Oscar nomination for his role.

A 2009 tryout run of the musical at Seattle’s 5th Ave. Theater, directed by O’Brien, was delayed when actor Norbert Leo Butz had to temporarily withdraw from the production to deal with a family matter. The musical also starred Aaron Tveit in the Abnagale role.

No casting has been announced for the New York run.

A critic for the Seattle Times wrote that the 2009 production was a ‘pop-savvy period piece, dispatched with gusto and panache’ but added that ‘the show isn’t always sure where it’s headed. And it’s a longer (three hours), bumpier jaunt than need be, with a few questionable detours en route.’

Here are a few scenes from the Seattle production of ‘Catch Me If You Can’...

-- David Ng

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