Based on the hit film, Catch Me If You Can the Musical is flying into town for the first time. It's the story of Frank W. Abagnale, Jr., a teenager searching for the glamorous life and ready to do anything to make it happenincluding posing as a doctor, a lawyer and a pilot! FBI agent Carl Hanratty is hot on the trail to stop him, hence the title.
Playing Frank Abagnale, Sr. is Dominic Fortuna, an actor known for performing Grease on Broadway and being a member of the Young Americans.
We talked to Fortuna about his role and singing with Barry Manilow.
Windy City Times: Hi, Dominic. Where are you calling in from?
Dominic Fortuna: I'm home with my family in Michigan for Easter break. It's nice to be in sunny northern Michigan. It is rare here. The sun doesn't come out much.
WCT: How did you get involved with Catch Me If You Can?
Dominic Fortuna: I was getting a show in Vegas and was contacting a friend out there when he told me that they were looking for a Frank senior for the first national tour of Catch Me If You Can. I contacted the producers and wound up auditioning in New York for it. It took a couple of auditions and then I was in.
WCT: Had you seen the show before?
Dominic Fortuna: No, not the musical. I had seen the movie, of course.
WCT: Is this show similar to the movie?
Dominic Fortuna: Yes, in the sense that it is as much as it can be. They are genius the way they put it together. It is the first question I get from family and friends. "They made it into a musical? How did they do that?" They did it great. It makes the audience chuckle from the very beginning. People realize that they made this into a show.
WCT: What a dream team. Terrence MaNally wrote it, William Ivey Long made the costumes and Jerry Mitchell choreographed it.
Dominic Fortuna: Yes, Jerry and I both toured with Young Americans. We are kind of like a family.
WCT: What exactly is the Young Americans?
Dominic Fortuna: It has been around since 1962. Back then, they were one of the first established swing choirs for young adults. Before that a show choir would just stand there but the executive producer Milton Anderson got kids to start singing and dancing. It was the very first Fame or Glee. They are still touring and there is a company in Germany and London as well as outreach programs in the U.S. Their 50th anniversary was last spring.
WCT: Has Catch Me If You Can been changed for the tour since Broadway?
Dominic Fortuna: They changed just a few things here and there. They trimmed a few things off and added a few lines, nothing real drastic but something for the road, which is normal for shows.
WCT: So you are playing the father role?
Dominic Fortuna: Yes, although it is a little more in depth with the family in the musical. In the movie you don't see a lot of the family. Frank Abagnale Jr. has come to see the show a few times, and said the portrayal in the musical is closer to his family life than the movie.
WCT: I love the song "Goodbye."
Dominic Fortuna: Isn't it great? Stephen Anthony sings the heck out of that! He plays the lead and the first time I heard it I just thought how unbelievable it was.
WCT: Are there any gay cast members?
Dominic Fortuna: Most of us are. We have family night out. That is the most fun. I would rather hang out with the guys than the girls. What do I have in common with the girls? I'm married so, for me, it's more fun to hang out with the guys.
WCT: So you go out to the gay bars?
Dominic Fortuna: We try to do it in every city but sometimes we get run down and just a few a will go. I am sure they will go out in Chicago now that they have had a rest.
WCT: It's interesting that Norbert Leo Butz won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Catch Me, and is now in Big Fish down the street.
Dominic Fortuna: That is a great role. I would have loved to have had an opportunity for that part. He's something else. He has such great stage presence.
WCT: I read you performed with Barry Manilow.
Dominic Fortuna: It was an experience. He's quite intense and very good at what he does. He's been around a long time. I actually landed the tour when I was in Chicago. We rehearsed it in Palm Springs; then, it went to Chicago. There were five of us in the cast. There were some big names, like Keely Vasquez and Deb Byrd, who have been with Barry forever.
WCT: How long will you be on this tour for?
Dominic Fortuna: It goes on until the end of June. We thought it was going to do Asia and it still might, we don't know yet. It has been picking up steam and getting really great momentum lately. Since Lexington, Ky., which was about five or six cities ago, we have been packing the houses every night. We were in L.A. the last two weeks and it was just crazy. People were eating it up.
We feel like Chicago will be like LA. After being on many tours there are three cities that are similar are Philadelphia, Chicago and L.A., similar yet different than New York. Chicago is a very intelligent audience that gets the book. They love musicals but they are into the book and the things that are going on inside the story. By the time you hit the meat of the story you can feel it in the audience. If you do a show that everyone knows then you better kick some ass. Many people don't know this show so the people coming will be interested in what will happen.
WCT: Do you have big plans after the tour?
Dominic Fortuna: I'm working on it. I have several one-nighters with a band I work with. There are a few that I work with, even some honky-tonk stuff. That is one of my favorite things to do even if it doesn't pay a lot. We will drive to an obscure bar and play all night. We will work out new stuff on the audience and play that. I have a couple of convention shows and festivals lined up. People can keep up with me at dominicentettainment.com .
Catch the musical if you can, running now until April 14 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Visit www.broadwayinchicago.com for ticket information.