The Notebook the Musical tells the heartwarming, and often heartbreaking, life-long love story of Allie and Noah. It is based on a true tale inspired by author Nicholas Sparks’ wife’s grandparents who shared a love story which started as a summer romance and endured separation, renewal and Alzheimer’s. It is filled with loving moments, humor and tear-inducing reality.
Set mostly in a nursing home in the present day, it is framed by older Noah reading from a journal to his wife Allie. The story flashes forwards, and backwards, from the duo’s passionate summer as teenagers to their renewed connection as adults.
Covering over 52 years of the characters’ lives, the tale illustrates parental prejudices, classism and the harsh reality of aging and memory loss. It exposes the raw strain of advancing dementia on both the victim and their caretakers, while centering on the enduring power of love that can transcend time and stresses.
The show features indie-folk-rock music created by Ingrid Michaelson. In contrast to other contemporary musical dramas, there is no “Waving Through a Window,” as in Dear Evan Hansen, or “It All Fades Away,” as in The Bridges of Madison County or “I Miss the Mountains,” as featured in Next to Normal. In this score, there is no breakout hit that one might hum as they exit the theater. The music, like the dialogue, is part of the whole. It is well-crafted to be inseparable from the story.
Bekah Brunstetter’s book, based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel of the same name, flows seamlessly, using the unusual device of three different duos of performers to portray the characters as they grow from young adults to a middle-aged couple to an older couple. They are constantly physically and emotionally weaving within each other on stage in a non-linear manner. It is an ingenious way to illustrate the continuity of life and the flow of the past, to the present, to the future.
While not being as emotionally charged as the tearjerker 2004 film, which starred James Garner, Gena Rowland, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, the musical still evokes strong emotional responses as displayed by the constant wiping of tears as evidenced in the audience.
The show, co-directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Best to Normal, Grey Gardens) and Schele Williams (Broadway debut), is meticulously conceived, and tells the story by highlighting both the serious and comic moments of the script.
David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis’s effective set design features rolling platforms, pieces flying in from the loft, a proscenium space within the outer arch, and a realistic rain storm. The set is highlighted with vertical light fixtures and a creative lighting design by Ben Stanton.
The cast is excellent, each creating a real person rather than portraying a character. They not only have well-trained voices, but sing meanings rather than lyrics.
The six leads, three sets of Allies and Noahs at various stages of their lives, include teenaged Allie and Noah (Chloe Cheers and Kyle Mangold), who are separated by her parents; the middle-aged couple (Alysha Deslorieux and Ken Wulf Clark) who meet again after ten years, at which time Noah is now a Vietnam veteran and Allie is engaged to marry Lon, a lawyer; and the older couple (Sharon Catherine Brown and Beau Gravitte), now in a nursing home as Allie has developed Alzheimer’s and Noah has chosen to live in the same facility to be near her.
Connor Richardson (as Johnny, a physical therapist) is a total delight, who displays a wonderful sense of comic timing and provides stress relief from the script’s many angst-invoking moments.
The musical opened on Broadway on March 14, 2024 and closed on December 15, 2024. It received 3 Tony nominations, but unfortunately there were no wins. The touring production rehearsed in Cleveland and opened at the Connor Palace theatre on September 12th.
As David Greene, the Senior VP or Programming for Playhouse Square says in his program notes, “Cleveland continues to prove that it is not just a stop on the map: It is a destination for world-class theater.” He concludes with the statement, “Let it [the show] move you, challenge you and remind you of the power of love.”
CAPSULE JUDGMENT: The Notebook The Musical tells an emotional story of love, family, loyalty and compassion. The touring production is a high-quality, well directed and performed show. It should be well received in the hinterlands where its less than sophisticated tone and tale should appeal to audiences more than it did in the high-powered less-than-sentimental New York. Go see this impressive productive of a well-crafted and -conceived show.
The Notebook The Musical will continue at the Connor Palace Theatre through Saturday, September 27th. Tickets are available at 216-241-6000 or playhousesquare.org.\