The first time I saw “The Notebook” musical was in spring 2024 on Broadway, where that production had great singers who could pull off the vocally challenging score, a truly tear-jerking finale and a confusing casting concept.
Now “The Notebook” is on the road in a touring production that’s playing through Sunday at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The musical’s creative team have changed an element of the show since it left Broadway that I see as positive. But for anyone who remembers the 2004 film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel, the musical’s new ending doesn’t pack the same emotional punch that left Broadway audiences in tears.
“The Notebook” is the 60-year love story of Noah and Allie, who meet in the 1940s, go their separate ways for a decade and then come back together. Their story, handwritten in a leather notebook, is told in reflection by the 80something version of Noah, who lives in a nursing home with his wife, Allie, who is losing her battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
To cover the passage of time, co-directors Michael Greif and Schele Williams cast three sets of actors to play the two characters in their late teens, late 20s and old age.
In the Broadway staging, the three actors for each character bore little physical or ethnic resemblance to each other. I interpreted this casting decision as a reflection of Older Allie’s mental confusion. But in the touring production, the teams of actors look very much alike, and when all three version of Noah and Allie are onstage at the same time, it’s uncanny and powerful.
On the downside, the producers opted to change the musical’s ending for the tour. Without spoiling anything, the musical’s new ending resembles the vague finale of the novel. The musical’s original ending had the darker, but more deeply moving finale from the film. I miss the more cathartic ending.
The touring production is led by two excellent actors, Sharon Catherine Brown as Older Allie and Beau Gravitte as Older Noah. I lost a parent to Alzheimer’s and found Brown’s mannerisms, movement and anxiety true to life, and Gravitte’s heartbroken bewilderment very familiar.
Beau Gravitte as Older Noah and Sharon Catherine Brown as Older Allie in a scene from “The Notebook,” playing through Sunday at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Roger Mastroianni)
Also superb are Ken Wulf Clark and Ashley Deslorieux as Middle Noah and Middle Allie. Clark has a charming and fun-loving personality and the reserved Deslorieux is the show’s powerhouse singer. The musical’s score by Ingrid Michaelson isn’t traditionally melodic, with big leaps from note to note that can easily strain a singer’s voice. But on Wednesday night, Clark and Deslorieux ably pulled off the two best songs in the show: Noah’s first-act “Leave the Light On” and Allie’s second-act “My Days.”
Kyle Mangold and Chloë Cheers complete the lead cast as younger Noah and Allie. Their songs are the hardest to sing and there were some flat notes sung Wednesday. But these actors do beautifully transmit the joy, discovery and passion of young love.
The touring production also re-creates all of the Broadway show’s best scenes, include the signature rainstorm, which is impressive for a road show.
Is “The Notebook” musical better than the book and movie that came before? Fans of the film will recognize iconic scenes, but not the ending. And for fans of the book, the musical is true to the original, especially in presenting the pain families suffer when Alzheimer’s affects a loved one.
‘The Notebook’
When: 7:30 p.m. April 16; 8 p.m. April 17; 2 and 8 p.m. April 18; 1 and 6:30 p.m. April 19
Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown
Tickets: $53.25-$332.75