Review: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN at Ashland Productions
This production went until August 16,2026
Ashland Productions closes out its 27th season with Catch Me If You Can, a fun and energetic production featuring its high school performers.
With a book by Terrence McNally, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Catch Me If You Can follows Frank Abagnale Jr., a teenager who runs away from home and begins creating new identities for himself. He poses as an airline pilot, doctor, and lawyer, all while passing forged checks and trying to stay ahead of the FBI.
Henry Sayers plays Frank and has the confidence and charm needed for the role. Frank has to convince just about everyone he meets that he belongs wherever he happens to be, and Sayers makes it easy to see how he gets away with so much. It is a big role, and Sayers handles the amount of singing, dancing, and storytelling that comes with it very well.
Luca Walz plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who is determined to catch Frank. Walz and Sayers work well together, and I enjoyed watching their relationship change throughout the show. What starts as a chase eventually becomes something more complicated, and some of their scenes together were among my favorites.
Luke Vogen and Jackie Gaalaas play Frank's parents, Frank Sr. and Paula. Their story helps show another side of Frank and gives some background to why he runs away in the first place. Underneath all of the fake identities and confidence, he is still a teenager trying to deal with his family falling apart.
Audrey Korba plays Brenda Strong, who becomes an important part of Frank's life when he starts thinking about settling down. Anna Blasy and Aiden Gross play her parents, Carol and Roger Strong, and bring some fun moments to the second half of the show.
Christopher Teipner directs the production, with Joe Mogren as music director and Julianne Mundale as choreographer. There is a lot happening throughout the show, and the production keeps things moving at a good pace.
The score is one of the most enjoyable parts of Catch Me If You Can. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman also wrote the songs for Hairspray, and you can hear some of that same big musical theatre sound here. The 1960s style works well with the story and gives the cast some great opportunities for large song and dance numbers.
I also enjoyed seeing a high school cast take on a musical this big. There is a lot being asked of them between the music, choreography, comedy, and more serious parts of the story, and they bring a lot of energy to the stage.
Having young performers tell Frank's story also works well because it is easy to forget just how young Frank is when all of this is happening. He may be pretending to be a pilot, doctor, or lawyer, but underneath all of it, he is still a teenager trying to figure out what he wants and where he belongs.
Catch Me If You Can has plenty of big musical numbers, comedy, and over-the-top situations, but there is also a story about family and growing up underneath it all.
Ashland Productions has put together an entertaining show to close out its season. Sayers and Walz are strong leads as Frank and Hanratty, and the entire cast brings a lot of enthusiasm to the production. It was also great to see so many young Twin Cities performers getting the chance to take on a show of this size.
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