‘Catch Me If You Can’ to feature a real-life conman’s story in River Valley’s musical

He sat for a bar exam and passed despite never going to law school. He posed as a medical doctor and hoodwinked the hospital staff a full year. He sold anti-fraud technology to credit card issuers – after he figured out how to game them.

The escapades of Frank Abagnale Jr. sound like the stuff of legend – except that they’re true, and they inspired a jaunty musical.

River Valley Players kicks off its 2025 season in Henry with Abagnale’s incredible life story in the hit “Catch Me If You Can.”

Payton Drake won the pivotal role as Frank Jr. partly because he was familiar with a film adaptation of Abagnale’s story starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Drake said immersing himself in the role of Frank required an unusual degree of versatility and flexibility because Frank adopted so many personas. But at its core, the role of Frank was rooted in a very simple reality.

“Before he’s a conman,” Drake observed, “he’s a 16-year-old in a broken home, and he determines that he is better off not being himself.”

Actually, most of the key players are troubled individuals trying to con the people around them. Jeff Sudakov plays Carl Hanratty, an FBI agent who chases Frank across the map.

While Hanratty is a composite character – it was a team of federal agents who pursued Frank – Sudakov said Hanratty is a relatable character in his own right.

“He’s this by-the-book guy who thinks there’s only way to do everything,” Sudakov said, “but yet, he’s lost a lot in his own personal life because he’s so driven.

“Hanratty is lonely. He wishes he had a family and, when Frank loses his father, he realizes he has to step up and not only arrest him but save him – to become the father figure Frank does not have.”

Indeed, it was from his father that Frank learned to be something he wasn’t. Dave Roden plays Frank Sr., who himself was something of a conman – “Frank’s father was never the man he purported to be” – and who unwittingly provided the lead character with a road map to pulling off true-to-life feats of deception.

Mostly true, that is. Roden said the real-life Frank Abagnale Jr. also was notorious for embellishing his real-life exploits. In later years, Frank hit the talk-show circuit and, predictably, “he conned the talk shows.”

“His story might have been a little, tiny bit stretched,” Roden said. “He did many of the things he did, but maybe not to the extent that he did.”

The FBI has reported that about 85% of fugitives are caught because of their wives and girlfriends. That was the case for Frank Abagnale Jr. While posing as a doctor, he met and fell in love with nurse Brenda Strong, played by Rachel Gorenz-Johnson. The union became his undoing because he could no longer freely switch names and identities.

While Brenda is unwitting and naive – “I don’t believe she was in on it,” Gorenz-Johnson said – Brenda helps put a human face on Frank.

“Frank is a very great anti-hero,” Gorenz-Johnson said. “You know he’s doing something illegal, but you’re still rooting for him. Maybe Brenda humanizes him a little bit, brings him back to somebody you could see yourself meeting rather than this fantastical character.”

Fantastical but historic, that is. Sudakov said he’s only two degrees of separation from the real-life Abagnale because friends know the now-retired (and very rich) conman and affirmed the head-spinning exploits that inspired stage and screen productions.

“That’s what makes this story so amazing,” Sudakov said. “How the heck did this kid, who’s 16 years old, pull it off? It’s so unbelievable it works.”

“Catch Me If you Can” also works because of uptempo music and dance numbers.

“It’s high-energy,” director Deanne Crook. “It’s one musical number to the next. It pulls you in and keeps you there, but at the same time there’s enough of a storyline and it’s easy enough to follow that you start to fall in love with the characters – even though some of the characters are not very lovable.”

Rounding out the cast are Monika Sudakov as Paula Abagnale, Mary Kieffer as Carol Strong, Chris Kieffer as Roger Strong, Jeremiah Noar as Branton, Forrest Boes as Cod, Cole Roark as Dollar, Heather Gifford as Cheryl Ann, Christine Gaspardo as Cindy, Sarah Denton as Mindy, Laura Wilson as Nellie, Lottie Prather as Jane, Kayla Eckert as Terri, Danika Maddex as Karrie, Emma Gaspardo as Betty, Josh Bush as Jack Barnes, Elizabeth Wild as Judge, Isabelle Knuckey as Ben Casey and Sadie Brzozowski as Bank Teller.

“Catch Me If You Can” will be presented at 1301 Second St., Henry. Show dates are as follows:

• March 29: Dinner begins at 6 p.m., with the show following immediately.
• March 30: Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m., with the show following immediately.
• April 4 and April 5: Show only begins at 7:30 p.m.
• April 6: Show only begins at 2 p.m.

Tickets can be bought online at rvphenry.org or by calling 309-238-7878. The cost for tickets to the March 29 and 30 shows is $43, including the meal package. The cost for tickets to the April 4, 5 and 6 shows is $23.