ALEX ELLIS: Being in my first Broadway show is mind blowing.
It's crazy, it's exciting, it's a
complete dream come true.
I'm living proof that, since I was seven years old, that if
you want something bad enough and if you're patient, it will
come to you.
And I'm so excited to see how the show turns out.
My parents took my sister and I on our big New York trip
when I was four, and we ended up going to see Cats.
And I was mesmerized by Victoria, the white cat.
I remember at the end of the musical all the cats run
around the audience, and Victoria touched my hand.
And I was Victoria for Halloween for four years, or
on a random Tuesday after school.
Even since then, I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
What were you looking for when casting the ensemble of women?
JACK O'BRIEN: We were looking for you, baby.
ALEX ELLIS: Catch Me If You Can has been created by the
same creators of Hairspray.
KERRY BUTLER: Hairspray was just magical.
It was the best time ever.
From the first performance we knew that this was a once in a
lifetime experience, and now I feel like I'm having it again.
I think that I might be having a once in a lifetime
experience two times.
And I don't want to jinx it.
ALEX ELLIS: It's based on the story of Frank Abagnale, who
from 16 to 21 got away with fraud and was on the
run from the FBI.
And it's just a really fabulous story.
And it's a true story.
FRANK ABAGNALE JR.: I wrote Catch Me If You Can when I was
in my late 20s.
So it was 20-some odd years later when it
was made into a movie.
And then one day, Steven Spielberg called me one
morning and said, Frank, someone wants to make your
movie into a musical on Broadway.
I realized, this is the Steven Spielbergs of Broadway.
[MUSIC - "JET SET"]
ALEX ELLIS: This creative team is--
they're dynamite.
I don't think anything can stop them.
JACK O'BRIEN: Some shows sing and some don't.
And it isn't just enough to take a movie script and do it.
You actually have to find something that you think you
can sing about.
TERRENCE MCNALLY: Wanted to use the source book for
information, true things that really happened.
But the book is not funny, and the movie has wonderful wit.
And you wanted to honor the wit and
dexterity of the movie.
FRANK ABAGNALE JR.: I'm really, actually, much more
excited about the play than I was the movie.
Such talented people put their heart and soul into it-- and
great, great music.
I love the music.
ALEX ELLIS: The more I hear their lyrics and their songs,
the more witty it is.
And it's smart and it's classy and it's just sharp.
[MUSIC - "BUTTER OUTTA CREAM"]
MARC SHAIMAN: Sometimes I can imagine starting with a
thought that's the beginning of a verse, but he's like, we
can't start until we got that title.
SCOTT WITTMAN: I have to have the title, and then a long
list of words.
MARC SHAIMAN: It's like an embryo.
And then from that embryo, we start to potchky with the
lyrics together, and we finish each other's sentences.
And I finesse the music, then, starting around the lyrics
that we're writing.
And it's literally like making a baby.
[MUSIC - "DON'T BREAK THE RULES"]
ALEX ELLIS: I really like the cast, and everybody's really,
really nice.
And they've been really, really welcoming because this
is my first show ever.
So there's a handful of us that are newbies to this level
of the club.
I wanted to show what the call board looks like.
This is everyone's birthday.
This is where you sign in.
If anybody gets new pages or the script changes, schedule,
physical therapy.
Will you rap for me?
SARRAH STRIMEL: Yo, my name is Strimel.
It's mad early, yo.
I got my coffee and I walk through the door.
ALEX ELLIS: But it's Friday, yo.
SARRAH STRIMEL: It's Friday.
Going to Southern Hospitality, new restaurant opening, free
drinks, free food.
ALEX ELLIS: I want to go.
Can I go?
SARRAH STRIMEL: Check it.
I don't know.
I gotta call my ho and let you know.
ALEX ELLIS: Yo.
SARRAH STRIMEL: That wasn't bad.
That was a good one.
ALEX ELLIS: That was a good one.
Ron Hoyt on the piano.
A little yoga.
Look who it is.
Good morning.
MALE SPEAKER: Hello, Broadway.
ALEX ELLIS: Good morning.
I think people like me.
I make them laugh, so that's fun.
I like to do that.
