Bob Jones Musical Theatre presents ‘Catch Me If You Can’, a musical about the young adventurous check forger, Frank Abagnale Jr., played by Justin Peel and the dashing, smooth FBI agent determined to catch Frank, Detective Carl Hanratty, played by Michael Willis. In this musical, there is a little bit of everything–show-stopping dance numbers, wonderful songs, and a tireless cast. Working around the clock since early September, the students, parents, and teachers have worked hard to recreate the four-time Tony award-winning production.

A feature dancer for the musical, Andie D’Amico described the experience as “very time-consuming but, rewarding.” She is not wrong as the cast, directors, and techies will have worked over 50 hours in the two weeks leading up to opening night. Putting together a musical of this scale takes a lot of hard work from not only the cast but also the passionate and dedicated theatre directors: Mrs. Mary Davis, Mr. B. Dwayne Craft, student director Kafui Sakyi-Addo, and student producer Amber Blackmon. From the backstage crew building set, working sound, and programming lights to the enthusiastic costumer moms and students, this musical is filled with hard work and dedication.

When asked how she thought the musical was doing a week from opening night, D’Amico said, “We need to add all the parts together and it should be a great musical.” As tech week comes to a close, the final touches of hair, makeup and costumes are joining together with the very complicated music. It becomes quite hectic when the over 60 actors are running for quick changes as the more than 300 costumes are still being added to. In the next week, the orchestra will be coming in to rehearse with the cast. “I am so excited for the orchestra to come because there is nothing like it when the instruments and our voices come together,” said Cameron Johnson playing Agent Branton in his second musical here at Bob Jones.

With such a large cast, it has been a lot to organize and create show-stopping dance numbers, but with the help of student choreographers Olivia Knowling and Nolen Gunner, 15 beautifully organized dances have been learned and perfected. “It’s fun to grow together as a cast and get to know each other better. We really get to know each other on a week like tech week because we’re here until ten and delirious,” D’Amico replied when asked what it’s like being in the cast. Though it is crazy and very tiring, everyone smiles brightly as the stage lights hit their faces because they love this show. Johnson stated, “All of us can’t wait for everyone to see the show, it is going to be amazing–we’ve worked so hard to get here. And I couldn’t be more thankful for the cast I get to work with.”

The upcoming musical is set to open Thursday, April 4th and continuing until Saturday, April 6th. You can catch this musical at 7 pm on Thursday through Saturday, as well as a matinee at 2 pm on Saturday and a special school performance on Friday. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and military, and $10 for students. The whole cast and everyone involved hopes to catch you at the Bob Jones auditorium to see the spectacular musical ‘Catch Me If You Can’.