“CATCH ME IF YOU CAN” through Nov. 19, Hale Center Theater Orem, 225 W. 400 North, Orem (801-226-8600 or haletheater.org); running time: 2 hours 20 minutes (one intermission)
OREM — Running is exhausting. Just ask any marathon participant or parent of a toddler.
And if running from the law were considered a sport, Frank Abagnale Jr. would be a world champion. After all, he committed check fraud internationally and, in the space of just a few years, led FBI agents on a chase that cost millions.
Hale Center Theater Orem’s latest musical, “Catch Me if You Can,” is based on Abagnale’s youthful escapades that included posing as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor and a lawyer.
The show boasts splashy choreography, a strong ’60s vibe, witty banter, toe-tapping numbers and soulful serenades, not to mention a story that is nothing short of unbelievable.
Abagnale, played by Andrew Robertson (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday cast), learns at a young age that with the right clothes and a healthy dose of confidence, he can do anything — or be anyone. This skill comes in handy for the 16-year-old when he decides to run away because his parents (depicted by Blake Barlow and Ashley Gardner Carlson T/Th/S) are in the midst of a divorce.
With some ink and glue coupled with a knack for sweet-talking, Abagnale creates and then cashes his homemade checks. As his counterfeits pile up, the teenage runaway catches the eye of FBI agent Carl Hanratty (played by Patrick Livingston T/Th/S), who becomes obsessed with chasing the fraud and giving Abagnale his comeuppance.
Hanratty lacks the initial charm Abagnale has, but he becomes more and more likable throughout the show, especially during his jazzy “Don’t Break The Rules” lament, in which he gets riled up preaching about his straight-arrow standards.
Abagnale and Hanratty form a strange relationship through their brief encounters. As Hanratty learns more about Abagnale (shown in the song “The Man Inside the Clues”) and through interviews with his parents, he begins to understand why Abagnale is running. But his sympathy doesn’t temper his pursuit.
While posing as a doctor in Georgia — even though blood makes him queasy — Abagnale falls for Brenda, a nurse, who is the opposite of his fabled, opulent life. Marissa Scout Lanham (T/Th/S) steps into the role of the sweet, Southern girl who trusts Abagnale but doesn’t even know his real name.
The most endearing scenes and charming songs happen when Abagnale is with Brenda and her family and he realizes that, in the long run, he wants to settle down and have a family of his own. He decides he wants to stop the lies and stop taunting Hanratty.
But a worldwide web of deceit like Abagnale’s doesn’t equate to an easy fix. Like the songs in the musical, the show ends on a happy and completely bona fide note.
The playful production, which runs through Nov. 19, proves that truth is stranger than fiction and strangers can be closer than families.
Content advisory: “Catch Me if You Can” contains drinking, suggestive dancing, mild swearing and mild sexual innuendo.
Emily Edmonds is an online communications instructor for BYU-Idaho. She is the former editor of BYU's Marriott Alumni Magazine. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's in mass communications from BYU.