Most people know the beautiful and romantic story that lies within the plot of The Notebook. Whether from reading the novel by Nicholas Sparks or watching the 2004 film, we have all heard something about the tender storyline of The Notebook. Nevertheless, being able to witness this story come to life in the form of a musical gave me an entirely new and enlightening perspective on the story and had me sobbing even harder than I did when I watched the movie. If you are trying to figure out what Broadway show to get tickets for next, keep reading to learn why the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre should be your next stop in New York City.
The cast
To start, this show had an incredibly talented and well-casted group of individuals playing roles that you could tell they were all putting their hearts and souls into. To make the story seem more realistic and show the aging of both Noah and Allie, the characters were played by three different people. The teenage version of them, the middle-aged, and then the old-aged Playing teenage Noah and Allie were John Cardoza and Jordan Tyson. These two were an absolutely perfect match to be playing these roles. The chemistry between them was so noticeable, and you could feel the loving energy in the room as they recited their lines and sang in unison together. Middle-aged Noah and Allie were played by Ryan Vasquez and Joy Woods. Both of them were incredibly talented, and you could see this strong chemistry that pulled the show together. For a show like this about a long-lost love and this sense of being young and rebellious, you need people who can give dialogue and truly act out their emotions, and these two were spot on!
Finally, the popes who played the older versions of Noah and Allie were Dorian Harewood and Maryann Plunkett. Both Dorian and Maryann did an amazing job of portraying their characters. I feel like one of the most debatable parts of the story of the notebook is the fact that Allie doesn’t remember much of their love story. You see how happy they once were together and all of the battles they went through to be together, yet in the end, Noah is reading Allie’s love story so that she never truly forgets. With these two on stage, their compassion for one another was unmatched. There were also many comedic moments between the two that helped brighten the mood during times when all you could think to do was cry. Overall, though, this casting was one of the best I have seen for a show in a while. It was made up of a diverse group of people who were all coming together with the same goal of putting on an incredible show, and that is what they did. You could clearly see all of the hard work, time, and deviation they put into this performance, and it was without a doubt enjoyable to watch!
Show Breakdown
This show encompassed a total of twenty-two songs throughout the two acts put together. The acts were split up with a nice fifteen-minute intermission for you to grab some more tissues and prepare yourself for even more heartbreak! Another wonderful thing about this show was that even though there were several different ages for both of the main characters, they all appeared a large number of times throughout the entire show, and you were able to hear them all sing multiple times. There are also several numbers with ensemble performers singing along with the lead cast members! Everyone played such an incredibly important role in the storytelling of the story, and it was brilliant to see all of the music, dialogue, and dancing come together to create a beautiful piece of work!
Notable Moments in the show
One of my favorite scenes in the entire show was in Act 2, when Middle Noah and Middle Allie were on the stage, and it’s the iconic rain scene most people know from the movie. The cover of the movie is based on this scene, and it is crucial to the rekindling of Noah and Allies relationship after Allie randomly shows up at Noah’s door a decade after being apart from one another. In the movie, this scene is depicted with a loud thunderstorm, and it is pouring, so I was interested to see how they were going to represent this in a theater setting. To my surprise, they had an entire small pond on stage to incorporate as many of the water scenes in the book and film as possible, and when it was time for the iconic rain scene, rain fell from the ceiling, pouring on both of the actors, really bringing this scene to life. Seeing such a real representation on the stage helped enhance the overall experience of the show, and I was thoroughly impressed by the amount of effort that was put into making this show as realistic as it possibly could! However cool this scene in the show was, I would not want to be someone sitting in the front row! With an intense rainstorm to put on, water was splashing everywhere, and the stage was soaked!
A supporting character who had me laughing throughout the whole show was Johnny, played by Carson Stewart. In the show, he was the physical therapist meant to help out older Noah with some knee pain he has. His character is one that helps bring a lot of comedic moments throughout the show. The humor his character brings was able to make the audience laugh and take a breath between the sobs that were undoubtedly escaping us all at some point during the show. One of my final favorite moments in the show was the entire performance of the song “I Know,” which is one of the last before the show ends. It is a song where all of the cast comes together to sing as the dreadful ending of the story of The Notebook unfolds. As this song was being sung, if you knew the story already, you knew what was coming when the song ended. Noah and Allie lay in each other’s arms one last time, coming up with one of the most beautiful, challenging, loving, romantic, and difficult love stories ever written. But their love shows you that even through hardships, if you have met the one, you will do anything and everything to be by their side until the very end of time.
As this scene came to a close, a sob fell over the crowd, and the powerful acting by the cast had the audience sniffling with tears streaming down their faces. In that moment filled with endless emotions, I knew this would go down as one of my favorite shows I have seen.
Your next step: The notebook on broadway!
With all of my favorite moments from the show in mind and everything you probably already know about the story of The Notebook, there should be no doubt in your mind that seeing this show should be on your to-do list very soon! Apply for lottery tickets, go to an in-person rush like I did to get discounted tickets, or purchase tickets online. Whatever is easiest for you, go see this show! You will not regret it, and I can guarantee that after, you will be both smiling and sobbing at the same time!