Christian Thompson, Nehal Joshi and Jeff McCarthy lead the new Catch Me If You Can overhaul on the Arena Stage starting March 4

The musical by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman and Terrence McNally includes a revised book and two additional songs not heard during the 2011 Broadway run.

Washington, DC’s Arena Stage features a new overhaul from Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman and Terrence McNally Catch Me If You Can from March 4. With an opening night scheduled for March 17, the production presents a “never–forward-performing” version of the late McNally’s book and two songs not heard in the 2011 Broadway run, “50 Checks” and “Here I Am to Save the Day”. The run will run until April 17.

The revisions were made with the blessing and in consultation with Shaiman, Wittman and Tom Kirdahy, the latter McNally’s widower and head of his estate.

Christian Thompson (Ain’t too proud) leads the cast as Frank Abagnale, Jr., replacing the previously announced Corbin Bleu. Also in the cast are Nehal Joshi (fly at sunset, Oklahoma!) as Carl Hanratty, Jeff McCarthy (Urineville) as Frank Sr., Rhett Guter as Roger Strong, Hayley Podschun (Hello Dolly!) as Brenda Strong, Alexandra Frohlinger as Carol Strong, and Stephanie Pope as Paula.

The set includes Cara Rose DiPietro, Jeremiah Ginn, Brett-Marco Glauser, Candice Hatakeyama, Ryan Lambert, Jody Reynard (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Kyra Louise Smith (sweet power), and Kristin Yancy. Rounding out the company as swings are Brianna Latrash and Bryan Charles Moore.

The production is directed by Molly Smith, with choreography by Parker Esse, musical direction by Laura Bergquist, set design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by Alejo Vietti, lighting design by Nicole Pearce and sound design by Daniel Erdberg. The creative team also includes associate director and text director Anita Maynard-Losh, associate musical director William Yanesh, assistant choreographer Kristin Yancy, combat director Robb Hunter, intimacy consultant Jenny Male, vocal and dialect coach Lisa Nathans, playwright Jocelyn Clarke, stage manager Hannah. Sullivan and assistant managers Marne Anderson and Emily Ann Mellon. Casting is handled by Geoff Josselson and Katja Zarolinski of JZ Casting.

The new book version of the musical was prepared by Smith and Clarke, working from five different revisions of McNally’s work. The pair hope to present a version that focuses more on the relationship between fathers and sons, both biological and otherwise.

“Imagine hearing new words from the great Terrence McNally nearly two years after his passing,” Smith shared in a previous statement. around today. Reimagining this musical with the entire creative team was a distinct pleasure and thrill. In this time of crooks and crooks, it’s the perfect time to dive into a musical about a young crook who gets caught.”

Adapted from the 2002 film and its new 1980 source material, Catch Me If You Can is inspired by real-life con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr. The somewhat fictionalized take on his life sees Frank posing as an American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, a Louisiana parish prosecutor, and more so, even as the FBI is on his trail.

The Broadway production of the work, which starred Aaron Tveit and Tony-winning Norbert Leo Butz, was something of a hair spray meeting, between Shaiman, Wittman, the director Jack O’Brien and the choreographer Jerry Mitchell, as well as a large part of the design team. The musical would ultimately only see a brief run on the main stem, closing after 32 previews and 166 performances.

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Catch Me If You Can with Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz