Catch It If You Still Can
playing in Pointe-Claire

Broadway‑style caper dazzles audiences at WISTA’s Louise Chalmers Theatre

By Mai DaSilva

June 4, 2026

Since its founding in 2006, the West Island Theatre Association, more commonly known as WISTA, has become one of the few consistent musical theatre groups on Montreal’s West Island. Over the last 20 years, they’ve had plenty of hits, often transcending the tiny western corner of the island. Catch Me If You Can, a Broadway musical inspired by both the 2002 Spielberg movie and the 1980s autobiographical novel of the same name, hit the Louise Chalmers Theatre this week and will likely reach that level of “hit” that is common for WISTA.

The atmosphere was immediately established, a credit to Greg Stanton’s set design and Adrian Manicom and Claire Cousineau’s lighting design.

Directed by Kyanna Mondezie, though not a stranger to the WISTA stage as a performer, she absolutely crushed her WISTA Director debut with this production. The production came together quite nicely, with Mondezie’s vision tying the piece together.

Upon the curtains first rising, we’re immediately transported into the busy bustle of the airport. The atmosphere was immediately established, a credit to Greg Stanton’s set design and Adrian Manicom and Claire Cousineau’s lighting design. The cast begins to trickle in, going on their merry way through the airport set.

However, as soon as the music starts, this atmosphere somehow becomes a secondary thought, as Max Benjamin, portraying the criminal leading man Frank Abagnale Jr., sings his first note. Originally performed by Aaron Tveit, Benjamin truly gives Tveit a run for his money; It’s no surprise to anyone that Max, notably having performed as Musidorus in Encore Musical Theatre’s Head Over Heels, and JD in John Abbott College’s Heathers, is set to attend Sheridan College for Musical Theatre in the Fall, as audiences are immediately blown away by this young performer’s voice.

Another standout performance is Daniel Kasenberg’s as Carl Hanratty, a persistent FBI agent dedicated to finding Frank Abagnale Jr. Kasenberg’s voice is best described as classic musical theatre, with a distinct sweetness and a fantastic tone. As a higher-ranked agent, he acts as a leader of the lower-level FBI agents, portrayed by Sean Gadjos-Murdoch, Diego Da Silva and Jake Booth. The four performers had incredible onstage energy together, providing hilarious comic relief. The quartet’s natural comedic timing solidified their standout status.

‘The four performers had incredible onstage energy together, providing hilarious comic relief.’

The entire performance was uplifted by the strong seventeen-person ensemble. This musical naturally calls for a large ensemble, with demanding large group numbers. The production leans into this, thankfully having a remarkable group of performers on its side to do so successfully. One number in particular, Jet Set, was enough to illustrate to audiences how showstopping this ensemble is.

One of the notable difficulties with the production was the sound, as microphones often produced intense feedback and/or loud buzzing. It was, unfortunately, quite distracting at times; the catalyst was during Serena Tierney’s beautiful ballad, with audio glitches so intense that she performed the second half of the song without a microphone.

Lucky for viewers, it amplified the notion that Serena Tierney is another shining star within this cast. Her powerful voice moved audiences even without a microphone. One of the signs of a true performer is successfully performing through errors, even when “the show must go on”: a sign Tierney exemplified.

However, these sound errors are among the very few “hiccups,” and despite the technical issues with the sound, the rest of the production spoke for itself; the positive collaboration between the performers, creative team, and crew members is evident.

Circling back to Adrian Manicom’s set design, it served as a multifaceted playing ground for the performers. Over the span of two hours, the space convincingly transforms from an airport, an FBI office, and a shooting range into a cozy home, a motel, or a hospital.

The entire cast is decked out in an elaborate array of costumes by Lory Saint-Fleur. Nearly every ensemble number has a different vibe and, therefore, a different costume; whether it’s nurses, pilots, agents, flight attendants, or passersby, the level of detail in the costumes is impressive, especially given the sheer number of performers they had to costume.

‘The entire cast is decked out in an elaborate array of costumes by Lory Saint-Fleur. Nearly every ensemble number has a different vibe…’

Additionally, Ray Avila’s video and projection designs stood out to me; The theatre space contains two TVs on the walls, which the creative team incorporated into the set. Avila’s designs included elements such as advertisements, starlight, and stylized lyrics. The designers for this production brought the piece together.

The shared, joyful collaboration between performers, creative team, and technicians was evident in the end result, which led to the production quite possibly earning the title of one of Wista’s best in years. Catch Me If You Can runs for one more weekend, June 5 and 6 at the Louise Chalmers Theatre in Pointe-Claire, and is worth the trek out west.

wista.ca

Images: courtesy of WISTA

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Mai DaSilva is an up-and-coming multidisciplinary artist based outside Montreal. She has performed in various plays and independently produced several of her scripts. Currently a theatre student at John Abbott College, Mai is ecstatic to delve deeper into Montreal theatre.