The stage musical adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook opened last Thursday at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, and critics are somewhat divided about the show.
Sparks’ novel, published in 1996, tells the story of a decades-long romance between a man and woman in North Carolina. It was adapted into a hit 2004 film directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
The musical adaptation is directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams, with a book by Bekah Brunstetter and songs by Ingrid Michaelson. The cast includes Maryann Plunkett, Dorian Harewood, Joy Woods, and Ryan Vasquez.
Emlyn Travis of Entertainment Weekly loved the show, writing, “With its stunning performances, beautiful songs, and supreme stage directing, the musical succeeds in delivering a fresh spin on its original material while also making sure that Noah and Allie’s story is never truly forgotten.”
By contrast, Jesse Green of the New York Times had mixed feelings, calling Michaelson’s songs “pretty but flyaway, as insubstantial as blue smoke,” but saying the staging is “natively theatrical and thus occasionally effective.”
At the Guardian, Gloria Oladipo gave the musical three out of five stars, writing, “The Notebook musical hasn’t lost its romantic magic, by any means. But without the equally touching music and a fleshing out of its core courtship, it’s a story that remains underwritten.”
Also expressing mixed feelings was Time Out New York’s Adam Feldman, who wrote, “As much as I rolled my eyes at The Notebook, I can’t deny that they sometimes welled up.…Plunkett’s truthfulness pierces through the sentimentality, and there’s something elemental in the combination of love and loss that this pair embodies.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
