Meadow Brook Theatre (MBT) opens its 59th season with the thriller, Catch Me If You Can, running through November 2, 2025, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
While the title will sound familiar to many, I want to clarify that this play is not based on the 2002 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Nor is it the 2011 Broadway musical of the same name.
This version of Catch Me If You Can is a murder mystery play by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), based on a play by Robert Thomas. It premiered on Broadway in 1965, which is also the year the story occurs.
There is no easing into the plot. From the get-go, you are thrown into the deep end, and the action accelerates from there.
The play opens at a mountain lodge in the Catskills of New York, where Detroit (one of many Michigan references) advertising executive, Daniel Corban (Stephen Blackwell, Strangers on a Train), is frantically trying to get the distracted Inspector Levine (Timothy C. Goodwin, Blithe Spirit) to take the matter of his missing wife, Elizabeth, seriously. The Corbans are on their honeymoon, where they had a fight and she drove off. Daniel is worried sick that something terrible has happened to Elizabeth. However, the Inspector is more concerned with making his name on a jewelry robbery at a nearby hotel than listening to Corban spout his wild theories.
There are no set changes in Catch Me If You Can – just arrivals and departures. When Father Kelleher (Tyrick Wiltez Jones, Footloose) shows up, he tells Daniel not only that he has met his wife but that he’s found her too. Daniel is elated until Elizabeth (Ashley Wickett) walks through the door, and he adamantly insists she is not his wife. The more he insists he doesn’t know this ‘Elizabeth,’ the crazier he sounds. Especially when she shows proof of her identity and accurately answers all the Inspector’s questions. Everyone believes she is Elizabeth, and Daniel starts getting paranoid that they are all conspiring against him.
To his credit, Daniel is not wrong. He soon discovers that his ‘wife’ and the priest are impostors trying to get rid of him so they can collect his life insurance and a hefty inheritance. Upon learning this, Daniel becomes even more agitated. The more he insists, the more those around him think he’s lost his mind. In fact, Elizabeth smugly tells him, “We won’t stop until we win all the marbles, and you lose yours.”
Blackwell is a master of the maniacal. He puts so much emotion into his character that you’re exhausted after watching him stalk around the stage for two hours. The level of energy he maintains is impressive. As is the height of his hair by the end of the performance.
As the story continues to unfold, the plot becomes more complex, and the Inspector becomes increasingly irritated at Daniel, who continues to rant and rave, digging himself closer to six feet under. Just when he’s about to abandon all hope, the local sandwich guy, Sidney (Phil Powers, A Christmas Carol), tells Daniel he remembers the real Elizabeth and can describe her as well. Daniel can’t wait for Sidney to tell the Inspector what he knows. Unfortunately, just like other times throughout the play, the moment Daniel gets close to the truth or has a shred of evidence, it all falls apart. Powers isn’t on stage long, but he makes the most of his lovable character, who is committed to great sandwiches and coffee (which I could smell from my seat). Blackwell and Powers are a phenomenal comedic duo anytime they share a stage.
Unexpectedly, Daniel’s boss, Everett Parker (Richard Marlatt), who owns the Catskill house, turns up with Mrs. Parker (Katy Kujala, Little Shop of Horrors). Mrs. Parker is his mistress, and he lies that Elizabeth is the real Mrs. Corban because he thinks that’s what Daniel wants. In return, he hopes Daniel will stay quiet about “Mrs. Parker.”
Every moment of this play is meticulously plotted and timed and is filled with misdirection, red herrings, and a cast of colorful characters whose entrances and exits give it the pace of a screwball comedy. The nuances of each performer have you alert and on the edge of your seat throughout the entire performance.
I am an avid connoisseur of mysteries, and the twists in Catch Me If You Can left me gobsmacked. In fact, the final reveal at the end will have you questioning everything you witnessed since the beginning.
Catch Me If You Can is a cosy murder mystery with splashes of comedy that is perfect fun as we transition into the darkening days of fall. Can you smell it? Murder is in the air, and mayhem is close behind. Do you think you can connect the dots and solve the case before the final curtain? Put on your deerstalker, Sherlock, and see a show to test your skills. You won’t be disappointed.
This production is being staged in its original three-act format and runs approximately two hours with two 8-minute intermissions.
Catch Me If You Can is suggested for audience members in middle school and up, and the performance features a gun and loud noises.
Catch Me If You Can is directed by Travis W. Walter, with fight choreography by Anthony Guest. Scenic design is by Kristen Gribbin, with costume design by Marley Boone, lighting design by Griffin Proctor, and sound design by Allison Bucher. Brittanie Nichole Sicker is the stage manager.
Tickets range from $40 to $48 and are available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at 248-377-3300 or by going online to www.Ticketmaster.com. Please note these are the only official sellers of tickets for Meadow Brook Theatre. Student discounts are available at the box office. Groups of eight or more should call 248-370-3316 for group pricing.
MBT has changed the showtime for some evening shows. Shows that previously started at 8 p.m. will now begin at 7:30 p.m.
About Sarah Hovis