If sentimentality is your thing, The Notebook is definitely for you. Based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 best-selling novel, which became Nick Cassavetes’s 2004 cult-favorite film, this conventional and predictable musical mines every treacly plot point for maximum tearjerking effect.
The story features a simplistic plot twist which you should be able to figure out early on even if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie. Dementia patient Ally receives daily visits from fellow nursing-home resident Noah who reads her the story of a volatile romance from a handwritten notebook. As the story is acted out by two sets of younger lovers at different ages, it’s gradually revealed they are the protagonists in the story and Noah is reading it to her to restore her memories of their life together. The conflict is class-based as Ally’s well-off parents—particularly her snobbish, but practical mother played by the wonderful Andrea Burns—reject the working-class Noah as a suitable prospect for their college-bound daughter. (Ironically, all of the roles have cast in a color-blind manner, so race and ethnicity do not enter into the mix.)
Maryann Plunkett is especially moving as the older Ally, feelingly conveying her desperate search for meaning in a clouded, consuming world. Dorian Harewood is affecting as the Older Noah, his love for Ally driving him despite numerous infirmities. Joy Woods stands out as Middle Ally. She has the sharpest conflict to play and delivers a complex performance, sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking. She battles between a pragmatic match with public defender Lon (Chase Del Rey doing the best he can in a role diminished from the film) and her true amour Noah, who has renovated the dream house of their teenage romance (Ryan Vasquez is virile and tender as Middle Noah).
Jordan Tyson and John Cardoza are adorably smitten as the youngest pair of lovers. Carson Stewart nicely provides extra character details in the dual role of Noah’s teen pal and a helpful physical therapist at the nursing home.
The ever-resourceful Michael Greif Rent, this season’s Days of Wine and Roses and Hell’s Kitchen) and Schele Williams deliver a proficient, slick production employing David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis’s flexible set to cinematically convey a variety of locales including a pond with real water. (We also get a real rainstorm.)
Paloma Young’s costumes help get the characters’ identities straight but don’t tell us much about the various time periods. The cast is professional and passionate.
The score by Ingrid Michaelson is pleasant enough, but not particularly memorable. Bekah Brunstetter’s book tries to keep the syrup-level to a minimum and juggles the multiple timelines with dexterity. All of these elements are at a Broadway-level and your mileage may vary depending on your sugar tolerance, but for fans of weepy romances, The Notebook should fit on your shelf.
