PicksInSix Review: The Notebook - Broadway in Chicago
Love Notes: For Better Or Worse.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Fiorello
The musical “The Notebook” has returned to Chicago, ready to meet all new audiences and be reacquainted—and reintroduced—with theatregoers who found themselves at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s pre-Broadway production in the fall of 2022. The musical, based on the book by Nicholas Sparks and subsequent 2004 hit film, plays now through August 16th at the Nederlander Theatre at Broadway in Chicago.
The story weaves through the lives of star-crossed lovers Noah and Allie, played in the musical by three actors for each character—Younger, Middle, and Older—jumping from present day to their carefree youth and everywhere in between. Older Noah and Older Allie recall and revisit their love story through the center inanimate character, a notebook, read from Noah to Allie as she grasps and struggles with deteriorating dementia. “The Notebook” is a beautifully told story of fleeting time and fervent love, one that you have not seen told in the current format—the touring production has undergone changes from the Broadway production and, of course, from its pre-Broadway run. Easter eggs only here for those who have seen previous versions of the show; I encourage you to head to the Nederlander to see for yourself.
On to this production, which deserves a review in its own right. Directed by Schele Williams alongside Broadway juggernaut and five-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (“Rent”, “Next to Normal”, “Dear Evan Hansen”) with choreography by Katie Spelman, “The Notebook” serves a visual treat to audiences, with staging and storytelling that often feels like poetry in motion. Multiple versions of Noah and Allie exist simultaneously on stage throughout much of the musical; what transpires at the expert direction of Williams and Grief is a journey through time, memory, while taking honest stock of our relationship to our past and future selves.
“The Notebook” marks the theatrical and Broadway debut of singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, alongside book writer Bekah Brunstetter (most notably television’s “This is Us” writer, story editor, and producer). The duo have created a musical that is as strikingly unique as it is true to the original book while also somehow capturing fan-favorite moments from the film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
The cast is replete with Broadway veterans, each as fantastic as the next. Alysha Deslorieux as “Middle Allie” soars vocally in her full-throated 11 o’clock number “My Days” while Beau Gravitte as “Older Noah” delivers a sincere, earnest, and loving performance as the idyllic spouse any married person would be lucky to have. Connor Richardson as Johnny, the physical therapist to Older Allie and the Gen Z point-counterpoint to Baby Boomer Older Noah offers a delightful performance, highlighting the power of platonic love alongside the romantic love of our main characters. Sharon Catherine Brown as Older Allie brings this story home with her devasting portrayal of life while suffering with dementia. Brown brings both a gentleness and fierceness to the role and gives us a heartbreaking glimpse into what it feels like to navigate this disease—constantly searching for answers while also searching for yourself.
I never read the Sparks novel but when I saw the film all those years ago, I immediately fell in love with what it stood for: real love can persist and stand firm in the face of life’s hardest struggles and most difficult tests. All these years later, as I’m sure is true for most of us, life has a way of testing that belief. Perhaps that’s why we go to the theatre. To be reminded of what is possible in life and in love, and that what we see beyond the footlights, even on our most difficult days, might find its way across the threshold.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer.
Instagram: @writtenbysarahfrances
PHOTO | Roger Mastroianni
Broadway in Chicago
presents
National Tour
The Notebook
James N. Nederlander Theatre
24 W. Randolph St.
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