Lead producers Margo Lion and Hal Luftig announced Jan. 31 that Catch Me If You Can would begin Broadway performances March 11 at the Neil Simon Theatre, rather than the previously announced start date of March 7. Opening night remains April 10.
Producers cite the extension of the Neil Simon's previous tenant, Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles, and the record snowfall as reason for the delay. These factors have forced the load in and technical rehearsal schedule for Catch Me If You Can to be condensed.
Based on the DreamWorks film of the same name (and the autobiography by Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding), Catch Me If You Can reunites Shaiman and Wittman with Hairspray director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who will stage the musical.
The cast features Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Is He Dead?) as FBI Fraud Agent Carl Hanratty, with Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal, Wicked) as suave con artist Frank Abagnale, Tom Wopat (Sondheim on Sondheim, Annie Get Your Gun) as Frank Sr., Kerry Butler (Xanadu, Hairspray) as Brenda, Rachel De Benedet (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Paula Abagnale, Linda Hart (Hairspray) as Carol Strong and Nick Wyman (Tale of Two Cities) as Roger Strong.
The Catch Me If You Can ensemble will include Joe Cassidy, Timothy McCuen Piggee, Brandon Wardell, Jennifer Frankel, Lisa Gajda, Bob Gaynor, Kearran Giovanni, Nick Kenkel, Grasan Kingsberry, Aleks Pevec, Kristin Piro, Rachelle Rak, Joe Aaron Reid, Angie Schworer, Sabrina Sloan, Sarrah Strimel and Katie Webber. The Broadway production will have scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting by Kenneth Posner and sound design by Steve Kennedy. Rockwell and Posner were both represented in the 5th Avenue bow. Long replaces costume designer Bob Mackie.
Catch Me If You Can, according to the producers, "captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot — all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run."
For tickets phone (877) 250-2929 or visit Ticketmaster.
The Neil Simon Theatre is located at 250 W. 52nd Street.
