The year 2002 brought the Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks film “Catch Me If You Can.” April 10, Neil Simon Theatre, brings the stage version with Norbert Leo Butz and Tom Wopat. About this story of Frank Abagnale Jr., 18, a pretend Pan Am pilot who conned millions in check fraud, Wopat, who plays Frank Sr., says:
“Junior explained to me how this began. ‘It wasn’t planned or thought out. All started accidentally. Getting divorced in Atlanta, the court situation was so stressful. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t handle it so I just ran away and did the best I could over a four-year aberration.’
“He’s bright. Charismatic. This guy flew 5 million miles. Ask where he got the idea to pretend he’s an airline pilot, he says: ‘Because it worked with the girls, and I liked the girls.’
“He’s come full-circle. Today he’s an FBI security specialist. Responsible for billing. Watching checks to detect counterfeits. After those bad years, he’s actually thrilled to now have ‘a regular life.’
“He loved the movie, but this Broadway musical is even more exciting because, he says, ‘It’s people making up songs and performing dances all about me.’
“I never saw the movie. Only bits and pieces. The show’s a little hectic rehearsing all day, performing at night, weekends giving notes on how things went. We’re still tweaking. Changing a dance, fixing a light cue. Three songs went away. It’s 2 hours 35 minutes. I think they’ll try shortening another few minutes.”
Not wildly thrilled to discuss is Tom’s 2000 shot singing our national anthem: “I’ve sung it thousands of times. Would you believe I blew the lyrics? First, only time I ever flubbed it. I couldn’t get out ‘twilight’s last gleaming.’ I was mortified. And it was Yankee Stadium. You could hear the echo throughout the whole place. A third of the crowd booed. Afterward Joe Torre said: ‘Nobody bats a thousand.’ I died a little.”
Back to another hero, Frank Abagnale, Tom says: “He’s coming for the opening.”
BORDERS, 57th and Park, says zero about its closing. Nobody there burps nada beyond: “It’s a family thing” and “only two stores are shutting.” About their other stores it’s: “Don’t know.” . . . Speaking of nobody talking, media en masse massing in Britain for The Wedding, find it a royal pain. Everyone’s mum. Seems anybody breathing anything will end up in the Tower of London.
PER couturieres: Michelle Pfeiffer‘s the perfect body. Alterations need rarely ever be done . . . Tattoo Re vue’s Casey Exton: Big demand for Charlie Spleen‘s tattoo “winning” . . . Oscar winner Melissa Leo on her “The Fighter” character: “Boxing’s an ugly game. Threatening, thieving from your own people is a horror. If Alice is rough, it’s what she had to learn.”
PLEASE. Somebody stop transportation nut Sicko-Khan, who’s sidelining vehicles to stick cafes on road ways. Soon cars will have to steer through restaurants . . . Speaking of eateries, a new one, 4 months old, opened on West 52nd. Empire Steak House. Steaks thicker than NYC’s Transportation Commissioner . . . Iqbal Theba, known now as Principal Figgins on “Glee,” working with SuperFutures to bring affordable “Online Guidance Counseling.”
MAKEUP lady Julie Hewett, who’s worked on “The Kids Are All Right,” named a mauve lipstick “Annette” after Annette Bening . . . Victoria Beckham‘s good luck is her crystals. She travels with different colored ones. She believes they give her good energy . . . “Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart, known to play patty-cake with Robert Pattinson, hides from fans. Stays inside. Goes out seldom . . . Roman Polanski keeping his Gstaad chalet, in which he’d been under house arrest. Says he has “full faith.” He knew “the Swiss wouldn’t give me up.” Yeah? Nobody else sensed that.
REPUBLICAN prayer: “We’ll lose our anxieties/our angst and our fears/if Obama‘s job doesn’t last four more years.”
JON Voight: “I get mistaken for Christopher Walken a lot.” . . . Kevin Bacon: “I’m taken for those other Kevins — Spacey, Costner and Kline.” . . . Rachel Weisz: “People think I’m Brooke Shields. Must be the eyebrows.” . . . Edward Burns: “I used to get Matthew Modine. I just signed their autographs and moved along.” . . . Janeane Garofalo: “Kathy Bates. We look the same in the face.”
DICK Cheney, not wildly chatty in public life, is now not chatty in private life. He threw together a mem oir. Out September, it’s still untitled. Also its contents remain embargoed. You’re told it’ll be a SimonandSchuster.com newsletter. You’re told it’s a “no holds barred” job. But they’re barring all holds.
WITH 399 others, reader Jim Fragale‘s TV network job was axed after 21 years. Responding to his employment hunt, a voice sounding like she’s 17 called with: “Your résumé says ‘Bachelor of Arts — Salem College.’ But doesn’t say you graduated.” He assured her he had.
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.