Catch Us if You Can: A Look Behind the Scenes at GOA's Winter Musical

By Sam Zaslow-Braverman '23
    It's (show) time again! After an interminable two year wait, Golda Och Academy presented “Catch Me If You Can,” an exuberant and hilarious musical comedy about the true life story of pilot, doctor and lawyer impersonator Frank Abagnale Jr.

The show is a loose adaptation on the 2002 film of the same name, which in turn is based on Abagnale’s book about his con-man adventures.
    Pre-show anticipation for the production was high, within the cast and beyond. Sophomore Hannah Weisz (Special Agent Branton) was most excited about the behind-the-scenes aspect.
    "I was most looking forward to the small moments in between scenes offstage," she explained. "I like the quick changes and whispered congratulations after every number, [as well as] all these experiences that we haven’t gotten during Covid."
    "I was really excited to see my friends in the play," said junior Boaz Fox. "I know they’ve worked so hard and it paid off."
    Daniel Shapiro, a cast member and stage manager, loved the positive audience reaction to the show.
    "I very much looked forward to the show [because] I am a member of the cast and crew, and it has a massive amount of talented people working both behind and on the stage,” Shapiro said. “It was an amazing product."
    The two-year long wait from the last Upper School musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and production of this year’s musical was heavily affected by the virus.
    "COVID-19 has impacted the musical, for better and for worse," Junior Sophie Fischer (Brenda Strong) explained. "Though we’ve had to postpone it for two weeks, it has given the cast and crew more time to rehearse and iron out the major kinks.”
Fischer also acknowledges how these obstacles have united every member of their community. “We have all gotten closer interpersonally and have really become a tight knit group through all of the confusion. It’s been an amazing process.”
The show met with rave reviews from all who saw it.