One Minute World Arts- Catch Me If You Can: The Musical
Catch Me If You Can: The Musical
Adapted from Frank Abagnale Jr.’s semi-autobiographic book of the same title, a new version of Catch Me If You Can: The Musical was presented at the Arena Stage, Washington DC this spring. The story of Catch-Me-the-musical-V.2, whose original was premiered in 2011, had already been made popular by the 2002 film of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg; it depicts the adventurous journey of a 17-year-old con man, Frank, who decides to run away from his divorcing parents and live his life as a swindler, conning people by assuming several different identities, including airplane pilot, doctor, lawyer, and teacher. In the process, he accumulates an enormous fortune, and forms a special kind of friendship with Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent chasing after him and investigating into his fraud case.
When discussing Catch-Me-the-musical-V.2, director Molly Smith made it clear that “every musical has plenty of songs that don’t make it into the final production”. In addition to a couple of new songs, this new production of Catch Me If You Can also featured mod fashion, Blues, and Jazz Dance of the 60s on stage in order to generate an authentic retro feel for the audience to enjoy. Moreover, the actors would purposefully break down “the fourth wall” when they performed, so as to engage the audience in the eye-opening and jaw-dropping plot line in a more interactive way.
《神鬼交鋒》音樂劇
睽違11年後，改編自法蘭克・艾巴內爾二世（Frank Abagnale Jr.）所著之半自傳小說的音樂劇《神鬼交鋒》（Catch Me If You Can），以新版2.0的風貌，於今年春季在華盛頓DC的環形劇場（Arena Stage）閃亮登台。這個故事早在2002年，就已經透過史蒂芬・史匹柏（Steven Spielberg)所執導的電影，為廣大的觀眾所熟知；其內容描述17歲的小法蘭克（Frank Jr.）因父母決定離婚而離家出走，自此展開一趟欺詐、犯罪的冒險之旅：他變換不同身份招搖撞騙，扮演了機師、醫師、律師和老師等角色，從中積攢了許多財富，並且在與FBI探員卡爾・漢拉提（Carl Hanratty）交手的過程中，培養出別開生面的情誼。
在談到新版的《神鬼交鋒》音樂劇時，導演莫莉・史密斯（Molly Smith）表示：「每齣音樂劇在正式定版之前，幾乎都會汰換掉好幾首歌曲。」今年的版本除了增添新曲外，更借助60年代流行的摩登服飾、藍調音樂及爵士舞蹈等，來引領觀眾深度品味這場時空轉換的復古饗宴；此外，台上的演員也藉由打破「第四面牆」的呈現方式，與台下觀眾互動，讓他們在精彩絕倫的騙局中有身歷其境之感。
Reference:
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/552717/arena-stages-catch-me-if-you-can-is-occasionally-great-looking/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/03/18/catch-me-if-you-can-arena-stage/
https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2022/03/19/in-arena-stages-catch-me-if-you-can-gloss-glitz-and-con/
Photo Credit: Margot Schulman