CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
A musical in 2 acts: libretto by Terrence McNally; music by Marc Shaiman
and Scott Wittman based on the film of the same name.
5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle - July 28 - August 16, 2009
Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway - 10 April, - 4 September, 2011 (170 perfs - 32
previews)
SYNOPSIS
Act I
In the 1960s, Frank Abagnale, Jr., a young con man, is cornered at the Miami International Airport by FBI
Agent Carl Hanratty and his team. Hanratty asserts that there's no use in running, as his men are trained to
shoot. Before his arrest, Frank pleads Hanratty to allow him to inform the people in the airport why they're
shooting at him, though Hanratty only wants to know how he passed the bar exam in New Orleans to pose as
a lawyer. Frank promises he will tell him all his secrets if they allow him to tell his story. A reluctant Hanratty
agrees.
In a home in New Rochelle, New York, Frank lived with his parents Frank Abagnale, Sr., and Paula Abagnale.
He explains that his parents met in Paris, France, during World War II. Paula was performing at a dinner,
and noticed Frank, Sr. among the soldiers in the audience marrying him soon after. Due to money shortages,
Frank is unable to attend private school, nonetheless wearing his school jacket to public school. He is taunted
there as looking like a substitute teacher, which gives Frank an idea; a few days later, the principal informs his
parents that Frank has been teaching French class at the school while their teacher is absent.
One day, Frank walks home from school to find his mother dancing with one of Frank, Sr.'s friends. She
pleads him not to tell Frank, Sr., but a distraught Frank is soon in court, with Paula and Frank, Sr. fighting
over custody of him. Frank decides to run away. He soon learns how to create fake cheques, cashing them at
banks across the country and successfully conning millions of dollars.
While entering a New York City hotel, Frank notices several attractive women, all of them stewardesses;
he decides to become a pilot. After creating a fake ID card, he finds a co-pilot job at Pan American World
Airways. The workers express the joys of a life in the skies. Hanratty finds several fake cheques on his desk in
Washington, D. C.; he and Agents Branton, Dollar, and Cod assigned to track down the writer of these fake
cheques.
Frank is enjoying his pilot job, remembering how his dad always said that "women love a man in uniform".
Feeling homesick, he goes to visit Frank, Sr., upset to find out that he had to close his store to save money.
Frank offers him several cheques to improve his financial situation, but Frank, Sr. disagrees, believing that
Frank should be happy with his success and not worry about him. Meanwhile, Hanratty sorts through
leftover items from the hotel Frank had just stayed at, looking for clues as to his whereabouts.
Frank attends a holiday party for the airport staff but ultimately feels lonely, calling Hanratty on a pay phone
for comfort. Hanratty, realising the culprit is just a kid, reveals that he, too, has no one to spend Christmas
with.
