Review: THE NOTEBOOK at Shea's Buffalo Theatre

Part romance novel, part heartbreak story of the ravages of Alzheimer's, Nicholas Sparks' novel THE NOTEBOOK is now a Broadway musical. No, not of  the glitzy  singing and dancing stage spectacular variety, but moreso a stage drama with music. The excellent new  National Touring production opened at Shea's last night, and even the most stoic of souls would be hard pressed not to feel one or more of the complex emotions that the cast works so hard to convey.

In the vain of TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, Sparks tells the love story  of Allie and Noah though a intricate web of flashbacks. Allie has Alzheimer's Disease and is living in a  nursing home facility. She no longer recognizes Noah as her husband, but he chooses to sell his home and move into the same facility to be with her. He reads from his notebook daily to her- which just happens to be the details of their own love affair from early teenage life to their marriage. The clever device allows us to meet their younger selves, middle age selves and older selves. The story telling is presented in a circuitous way, where the couple often intermingles with their younger counterparts.

The book  of the musical by Bekah Brunstetter is based on Sparks book, and is written with just enough of the dramatic details of the ruthless disease that strips away memory. It is remarkable in that it would fall in the genre of "memory play," but the topic is  memory itself. Happier times in the young love affair are still mixed with Allie's  overbearing and strict disapproving parents.  Rebellion mixed with a  sense of familial obligation forces Allie to abandon Noah, but life takes it turns and the two reunite.

 Confronting medical issues on stage is tough, and everyone seems to have their own personal story with a loved one's demise. The Broadway play WIT by Margaret Edson deals with a woman dying of breast cancer and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.   Alice Ripley won a TONY AWARD for her spectacular take on a woman battling Bipolar Disorder in the Broadway musical NEXT TO NORMAL.  Where THE NOTEBOOK succeeds is in the gritty reality of the disease, and the production directed by Michael Grief and Schele Williams manages to entrance the audience in it's creativity. The score by Ingrid Michaelson, while pleasant and unoffensive, is merely utilitarian. Its serves to heighten the drama in the way an evocative movie score underlines a drama, but it's sameness on sound never rises to a level of vocal creativity or uniqueness. 

The older couple is played by Sharon Catherine Brown and Beau Gravitte. Both bring a maturity that only comes from a long life, based on ups and downs, but grounded in love. Gravitte anchors the action and is pleasant yet curmedgeonly. His tenderness with Allie is palpable. Brown embodies a woman torn by the disease but who  occasionally shows  glimmers of her old self. The scenes of fear and agitation are balanced by the dreaded moments of  blank silence. The flashback to a younger, vibrant woman help focus the woman she has become. The foreshadowing of the early memory loss impart pangs of what is to come. Brown was captivating in bringing all of the details to life.

The young couple played by Kyle Mangold and Chloe Cheers embody carefree youth. Mangold is optimism embodied- he lives for his love of Allie and sings with a pop sound that matches the demands of the score. As Allie, Cheers is winsome and endearing, making her instantly loveable to Noah.

The meat of the story for me lies in the Middle years couple, when difficult decisions must be made. Ken Wulf Clark commands the stage whenever he speaks, and especially when he sings. His Noah has returned from Vietnam and worked hard to restore the home that he hoped to share with Allie.  His beautiful tenor voice sails with abandon is his desires for her. Alysha Deslorieux is a woman plagued by her impending marriage to another man she "should" marry, and the memory of her true love, Noah. Deslorieux is petite and charming as the confused woman who can't resist her desires for Noah.  Both actors form a bond that is instantly recognizable from memories of their younger selves. The audience is rooting for them to rekindle their romance, even though we already now the eventual outcome. These glimmers of romance were what ultimately made the drama most successful.

The secondary players are all well cast, with special note to Ann Tolpegin playing  both tough as nails Nurse Lori and  uptight Allie's Mother, while  Connor Richardson was a welcome comic relief Physical therapist Johnny.

Scenic Design by David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis was creative in it's sliding set elements complemented by some video designs by Lucy Mackinnon

Luckily the story never becomes overly maudlin, although the sappiness factor does overtake the drama at times. Noah rises from his own hospital bed, after suffering a stroke, as if he is literally reborn.  And the Hollywood ending of sorts broke some of the tension already created in the accurateness of the disease. Let's just say, Allie's denouement of self awareness could have had a similar effect if it were more subtly handled, based in medical fact.

The sniffles and tissues that were present at the show's conclusion were not surprising given the uber success of THE NOTEBOOK book and film. The musical tugs on those familiar heartstrings, leaving it hard to say it didn't successfully tell a captivating story, albeit with a generic musical score.

THE NOTEBOOK plays at Shea's Buffalo Theatre through October 12, 2025. Contact sheas.org for more information.