Crime has never looked so stylish.
Kauri Theatre brings the Tony-nominated musical, Catch Me If You Can, to Wellington, showcasing a plethora of talent that’s already been overbooked. This local take is a strong execution featuring excellent individual performances by supposedly ‘amateur’ actors. They’re anything but.
The musical largely follows the plot of the DiCaprio movie, with a few minor tweaks for stage logistics. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll enjoy the attention to detail on the outfits and the commitment to Frank’s unreliable narration extended to a play format. If you haven’t, you’ll be sucked in by the cat and mouse thrill of watching Abagnale dodge arrest time and time again, delighting in the ambiguity of who to root for. I’m Team Hanratty all the way, baby. Carve out an evening out to accommodate the three hour run time and make use of the break. Other than that, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Our lead, Jackson Stone as Frank Abagnale Jr, is a great grounded anchor to centre the story around. His performance is fascinating. Every note gets hit perfectly, and he’s clearly rehearsed his dance moves well, but his slightly nervous energy betrays his character’s false bravado. His suits don’t quite fit, and even seem to restrict him as he raises his arms which only go so high. It perfectly encapsulates a character who’s hiding who he truly is, and keeps the audience engaged throughout.
Playing his parents are Carl Johnstone and Matilda Wickbom, who are both excellently cast. Their raw, emotional outbursts manifest differently, but are equally impactful. While Johnstone goes for a rougher, desperate approach, Wickbom opts for a lamentative hopelessness. Their performances complement each other perfectly.
A second-half surprise is Lily Tyler-Moore‘s Brenda Strong, a character who’s by far the most developed from the movie. It’s a more sensible take on the character; a competent and loyal partner to Abagnale whose solo moment has the audience’s hands aching from clapping. She completely owns the stage in Fly, Fly Away and it’s a shame the script doesn’t allow us to see much more of her beyond this point.
The rest of the ensemble is incredibly competent. A few of my favourites are Katherine Keane, whose facial expressions devour and leave no crumbs, Ethan Guest, whose comedic timing is always perfect, and Yang Liu, who plays the schmuck with a natural grace and vulnerability that’s incredibly endearing. More importantly, it’s an ensemble that’s always in sync when it needs to be, and they all feel genuinely excited to be there.
I gotta admit here, I do have an inherent bias for my favourite character from the movie, Carl Hanratty played by Alex Rabina. I wasn’t sure how they were going to be able to pull off Tom Hanks’ competent, but unlucky FBI agent, but my god, Rabina is excellent. He absolutely nails the tone of the character and convincingly plays a detective who wants to catch his mark, but not punish him. It’s the subtle glint in his eye whenever he mentions something crafty Abagnale’s up to, or the soft pity in his voice when they talk over the phone. Hanratty isn’t a hound, he’s a rescue dog, and Rabina 100% understands his assignment here.
It also helps that the costumes are just fantastic. Wardrobe Managers Anne De Geus and Caitlin Fitt-Simpson cooked something phenomenal here. You’ll be sent dizzy by the amount of costume changes that the cast have to go through and the end result is a fully immersive theatre experience that hits the mark on bringing the world of Frank Abagnale to life. Every item of clothing is simply iconic and leaves you amazed at how much work went into this.
And that just makes it so much more surprising to flick through the programme to see that this is a lot of these performers’ first time with Kauri Theatre. This is the power of strong community theatre, where singers, actors, and even directors are given a chance to showcase what they’re made of. This is director Alistair Davies‘ first time in the cockpit and you can tell he’s got the support and buy-in from his cast.
Catch Me If You Can is a fun evening of strong local talent doing what it does best. The performers appear thrilled to be on-stage, and the volume of the audience’s applause couldn’t be drowned out by a thousand planes taking off. I’d recommend the musical for any fans of the movie, but the show had sold out long before it ever took off. In a way, the show essentially reviews itself; catch it if you can.
But you probably can’t.
Disclosure: As a somewhat active member of the Wellington performing arts community, I may be quite familiar with a number of the performers in this show. Having said that, I am not a liar, and there is zero bias in my reviews, shut up.
Also, tickets were provided to me for free by the production. Literally changes nothing, though