Catch Me if You Can

Marriage can be hard work. When you’re married to the wrong woman, it’s lots and lots of hard work. No, not the wrong woman as in, “I should have married Sally instead of Julie.” No, the wrong woman as in, “This Elizabeth isn’t my Elizabeth!” That’s exactly what happens to Daniel Corban when we first meet him in Catch Me If You Can. A comedic whodunit, the play opens with Corban pacing his honeymoon suite in a frenzy. His new wife Elizabeth has been missing for three days, and the local officials, including one Inspector Levine, are idiots. But wait, the friendly neighborhood priest has found Elizabeth, and she’s willing to come back, but only if Corban agrees to “no questions, no reproaches.” He does, and in steps “Elizabeth.” But Corban’s never seen the woman before. Who is she? And where’s the real Elizabeth?

With no apparent reason for someone to impersonate Elizabeth, no one believes poor Corban (of course, it doesn’t help that he had a mental breakdown a few years back). Even after dead bodies start turning up, Corban can’t convince anyone that something very, very wrong is going on. Catch Me If You Can has one plot twist after another, punctuated with laughs and double crosses, all leading up to a startling end. (Here’s a hint: Never trust an overly friendly priest.) 8 p.m. January 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10, and 2 p.m. January 4. UpStage Theatre, Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights Boulevard. For information, call 713-838-7191 or visit www.upstagetheatre.org. $15.
Jan. 2-3, 8 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 4, 2 p.m.; Jan. 8-10, 8 p.m., 2009