"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" A MUSICAL CAT AND MOUSE GAME

Children commonly like to play dress-up and pretend games, making believe they are fairy princesses, cowboys, firemen or clowns.  Halloween presents a grand time to indulge in fantasy every October, as an excuse to go trick-or-tricking. What happens if a child cannot reconcile the world of make believe with one of reality, so that they blur and overlap.

Such a child might grow up to become Frank Abagnale, Jr., who works hard to escape his personal family life by assuming new identities and personas, ones that he has no training for but, nonetheless, succeeds at portraying.  The story of Frank's intriguing true escapades have been captured by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman, from a book by Terrence McNally.  The Broadway musical "Catch Me If You Can" will fly into the Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday, May 28 to Sunday, June 2.

This Broadway musical is currently enjoying a national road tour, featuring Stephen Anthony as Frank.  His adventures in crime, as an incredibly successful con man, probably began as an attempt to escape an unhappy home life.  He runs away from his family as a teenager and with a million dollars worth of charm, imagination and forged checks, he dons the costumes of college professor, airline pilot, pediatrician and attorney.

With a string of aliases and a ton of chutzpah, Frank brings the art of false identity to a new height.  Nicknamed "The Skywayman," he had police in all fifty states and in twenty-six countries on his trail before he turned 21. The most persistent of all is F.B.I. agent Carl Hanratty, played by Merritt David Janes, who pledges to catch Frank and put him where he belongs:  in prison.

For tickets ($20-65), to this high-flying musical, call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org.  Performances are Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

With a rugged determination like policeman Javert exhibited in tracking down Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," Carl Hanratty makes Frank Abagnale, Jr. the target of his dedicated pursuit.