Catch A Flight for Catch Me If You Can
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts, put your tray tables up, and get ready for a song-filled ride!
Whittier College’s Theatre, Film, and Communication Arts Department, in collaboration with the Music Department, presents their production of Catch Me If You Can in the Shannon Center’s Robinson Theater. The musical plays on April 4, 5, 6, at 7:30 p.m., and April 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on PurplePass.com for $15. Students can use the code WCPOETS to purchase tickets for $5. The first 100 Whittier students can also claim a free ticket voucher if they email Debra Eckloff at deckloff@whittier.edu. This is the first time the department has put on a musical since the 2018–19 school year, with the last one being Pippin.
Based on the 2002 film by Steven Spielberg (which is loosely based on the real-life story), Catch Me If You Can is about young con-man Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who spends his time forging and stealing money, employing numerous fake identities, and deceiving everyone that comes across his path. But don’t let that fool you. Everyone wants to catch him, especially FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). And the chase between them goes on and on and on.
The musical adaptation was created by bookmaker Terrence McNally (The Full Monty, Ragtime), with a jazzy score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Witman (Hairspray). The musical went on to win four Tonys. Whittier College uses the arrangement courtesy of Music Theater International (MTI). The College’s production is directed by Professor Jennifer Holmes, with music direction by Professor Alexandra Grabarchuk.
While Leonardo DiCaprio himself will not be on the Shannon Center stage, Whittier’s own Leo — fourth-year Jonathan “J.J.” Trimble — will be playing the teenage con-man, and he could not be more excited. “For a lot of us,” he starts, “we were just really happy to be a part of it. I haven’t done a musical since my senior year of high school, so it’s been almost four years. I was excited and nervous at the same time.”
Playing opposite Trimble’s Frank is fourth-year Joel Adell, our resident Tom Hanks, who shares similar feelings of excitement — and fear: “With a musical comes the music, the danc[ing], and the acting all in one, and we’ve only been acting for the most part for the past four years. So it was good getting back on-stage in a play. But to do a musical, we haven’t done that in so long. It’s like [the next step].”
Getting leading male roles is no easy feat, and while Trimble is “excited” about it, he’s definitely feeling the pressure. “Holmes is like, ‘You are the instigator of the show. Your energy has to spread towards the ensemble,’ because I’m basically telling the story [while] being in the story. It’s very meta.”
Adell feels similarly, with the “meta-ness” of the musical, both on- and off-stage. The Theater department is a small (but mighty!) bunch, so Adell and Trimble have played opposite each other for many years. This level of camaraderie and friendship is reflected in the performances. Adell continues, “I mean, it’s nice, in my opinion. When you see two leads, you typically see a man and a woman in those roles, but the show is about the relationship between these two guys. So it’s cool to not only get a lead, but get a lead with another character who is also a guy.”
The cast and crew of Catch Me If You Can have been working hard since last semester for the show, including an additional class this semester led by Dr. Grabarchuk, which Trimble refers to as “basically rehearsal.” In the class, they practice the music, do scene analysis, and learn the history of the show and the context of the time period the show is set in. Dr. G states that she is “deeply excited to be a part of reviving musical theater at Whittier College! The amount of work I’ve seen put into this production already has exceeded anything I’ve experienced in my five years here. Plus, they’re all extremely talented performers. It’s been a joy to help coach these brilliant students in preparation for opening night.”
Dr. G is not the only professor proud of the work the performers have put in. Professor Holmes states that, “Preparing our production of Catch Me If You Can has been a very fruitful experience. It is especially gratifying when the Department of Theatre, Film & Communications Arts collaborates with the Music Department. Dr. Alexandra Grabarchuk, the production’s music director, is dynamic and inspiring.”
She continues, saying, “There has been a lot of joy and excitement throughout this process! Whittier College is fortunate to have such an exceptionally dedicated, dynamic, and positive group of students, faculty, and staff all engaged in realizing this production. By the time the show opens, each individual cast member will have put in over 155 rehearsal hours.”
Holmes then concludes, “It is my privilege to have spent that much time with them; they are an exquisite group of human beings! I hope people come out and see the show and leave feeling that those two and a half hours were well spent.”
155 hours of rehearsal is a lengthy amount of time (thanks to a five-days-a-week rehearsal schedule), and when you add up the time the cast spends as set builders, prop masters, and more, it can feel daunting to anyone. “The musical heightens everything and puts in a lot more work. So, by consequence, our work just got doubled,” says Adell. But don’t fret; the Theater Department is used to this, and is passing with flying colors.
On top of making the musical from scratch, the actors must find their characters — both on and off the stage. With Adell, finding Hanratty meant reading the script, looking at the subtext, and essentially creating a backstory for him that the audience does not see. “He talks about having a family before and all that stuff, but we don’t see any of that; we just see him alone. So, I picture [him as] a job-aholic; he works all the time. That’s probably why his wife left him and why he doesn’t have a family now, and that’s pushed him into his work even more. Of course, when [he learns that] Frank doesn’t really have a family anymore either — he’s like, ‘We’re looking for a runaway kid,” — he kind of starts to sympathize after hearing his side of the story.”
Trimble had to attack his character in a different way since Frank’s backstory makes up the actual show. “I was trying to find out how relatable this character is to me. I think he’s relatable to a lot of people.” Trimble goes on to say that Catch Me If You Can is “definitely a coming-of-age story.”
“[It’s also about] the loss of innocence, getting older, [and] knowing how to deal with real-life problems. So, trying to find connections between the character and me really helped [me] embody his character, but also show myself in him.”
Despite the copious amount of work that everyone in the production is putting in, the cast and crew are ready to take audiences on the trip of a lifetime. Trimble and Adell urge everyone to “Come see the show!” and escape their worries for two and a half hours.
“Yeah, we’re always having fun on stage. And you can definitely feel the fun. You can interact with us and talk — No, don’t talk,” Trimble concludes.
So if you want to go on daring heists, see elaborate espionage, or just relax with jazzy tunes for over two hours, I have the show for you! Go and catch your flight to see Catch Me If You Can on April 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Holmes
