![\"Jarod](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-z-catch-me-1-01.jpg\")
Jarod Bakum, Jeanine Levy and Matthew Korinko in Slow Burn Theatre Co.’s “Catch Me If You Can.” (Larry Marano\/Courtesy)<\/p>\nSlow Burn Theatre Co. soars high into its 16th season with a lively production of the musical \u201cCatch Me If You Can,\u201d running now through Oct. 26 at Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Broward Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n
Under the assured direction of Patrick Fitzwater, Slow Burn delivers a highly entertaining production that benefits from its young cast, enhanced by South Florida veteran actors and by the choreography of Cat Pagano.<\/p>\n
\u201cCatch Me If You Can\u201d follows the exploits of Frank Abagnale Jr., who before his 19th birthday managed to fool people across the country into believing he was a pilot for Pan Am airlines, a doctor, a secret service agent and a lawyer. He also forged millions of dollars in payroll checks that he cashed at banks nationwide under various aliases, raising the attention and ire of the FBI, especially agent Carl Hanratty.<\/p>\n
The musical, with a libretto by Terrence McNally and a theatrical score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, is based on the 2002 movie that starred Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty and Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale. The movie, in turn, was based on the 1980 autobiography of the same name by Abagnale and Stan Redding. The musical ran on Broadway in 2011, from April to September, receiving four Tony Awards nominations (including one for best musical) and winning Best Actor in a Musical for Norbert Leo Butz.<\/p>\n
Despite the star power of the movie, which also featured Martin Sheen, the musical version is more involving, and Slow Burn capitalizes on that as it shows how and why Frank become a con artist.<\/p>\n
Set in the mid-1960s, the musical imagines Frank\u2019s life as a TV show, especially \u201cHullabaloo\u201d and \u201cShindig!,\u201d two musical variety series of the era that focused on rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. The multilevel inviting scenic design by Nikolas Serrano uses that milieu to showcase the talented singers and dancers.<\/p>\n
Frank grew up in New Rochelle, New York, the son of Paula and Frank Abagnale Sr., who met in France at the tail end of World War II. Early on, Frank Sr. showed his son little con games, swapping money he didn\u2019t have, manipulating others. \u201cPeople only know what you tell them\u201d and \u201cPeople see the uniform not the person\u201d are two maxims Frank Sr. tells his son.<\/p>\n
The advice sticks. Frank\u2019s imposter persona begins kinda innocently, when he is mistaken for a substitute teacher because he is wearing a jacket.<\/p>\n
Jarod Bakum, Jeanine Levy and Matthew Korinko in Slow Burn Theatre Co.’s “Catch Me If You Can.” (Larry Marano\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n
But in response to his parents\u2019 pending divorce, Frank runs away. He finds he\u2019s good at making bogus checks and convincing strangers to cash them as he spins tall tales while saying he\u2019s older than he looks. All those bogus checks bring in the FBI.<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s charm is his secret weapon and charm oozes from Jarod Bakum, last seen in Slow Burn\u2019s \u201cAnastasia.\u201d Bakum\u2019s strong voice, sure-footed dance moves and charismatic attitude make his Frank Abagnale a star-making role. Who wouldn\u2019t believe he is a pilot, lawyer and doctor? (Even if the sight of blood makes him ill.) Even though we know he is breaking the law, the audience is always on Frank\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
However, Frank meets his match in the tenacious agent Carl Hanratty, persuasively played by\u00a0Ben Sandomir, who also has the audience on his side. Catching the elusive Frank becomes an obsession for the FBI agent, but Sandomir\u2019s multilayered performance also shows the character\u2019s humanity.<\/p>\n
Slow Burn elevates \u201cCatch Me If You Can\u201d with a top-tiered supporting cast who make the journey entertaining, including the outstanding Matthew Korinko (Frank Sr.), Jeanine Levy (Paula Abagnale), Samy Berman (Brenda Strong), Michael Cartwright (Roger Strong) and Britte Steele (Carol Strong). The cast also features first-rate singers and dancers, many of whom will, no doubt, be featured in upcoming Slow Burn productions.<\/p>\n
Adding to the production values: the lighting design by Eric Norbury; costumes coordinated by Rick Pe\u00f1a; sound design by Dan Donato; music direction by Paul Tine and dance captain Taylor Hilt Mitchell.<\/p>\n
\u201cCatch Me If You Can\u201d starts Slow Burn\u2019s 2025-2026 season with a bang. Next up is Disney\u2019s \u201cFrozen,\u201d from Dec. 13 to Jan. 4.<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
WHAT: \u201cCatch Me If You Can,\u201d presented by Slow Burn Theatre Co.<\/p>\n
WHEN: Through Sunday, Oct. 26<\/p>\n
WHERE: Amaturo Theater at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n
TICKETS: Start at $91.45; available by calling 954-462-0222, visiting browardcenter.org<\/a> or in person at Broward Center\u2019s AutoNation Box Office<\/p>\n INFORMATION: slowburntheatre.org<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Jarod](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-z-catch-me-2-01.jpg\")
Jarod Bakum, seen here with other cast members, has a strong voice, sure-footed dance moves and a charismatic attitude, all of which make his Frank Abagnale Jr. a star-making role. (Larry Marano\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slow Burn Theatre Co. soars high into its 16th season with a lively production of the musical \u201cCatch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,104,684,28,249,251,250,114,109,3478,106],"class_list":["post-2898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-social","tag-theater","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}