Hairspray Composing Team Developing Musical of "Catch Me If You Can" with Spielberg

By Robert Simonson
09 Jun 2003

Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, the Tony-winning composing team of Hairspray, are developing a new musical based on the 2002 Steven Spielberg film "Catch Me If You Can."

The two will work on the show with filmmaker Spielberg. Wittman and Shaiman said the details of the deal were ironed out last week.

"Catch Me If You Can," the true story of a compulsive young con man and the federal agent who pursues him, starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, as well as Christopher Walken as the father of the DiCaprio character. The picture takes place in the 1960s, a period the writers feel comfortable in, having just worked on the 1962-set Hairspray.

Wittman and Shaiman won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Score for Hairspray, their first Broadway musical.