🎭 What Age Takes Away | "The Notebook" @ BIH/Pantages

When the 2025-2026 season for Broadway in Hollywood was announced, there was a mixture of shows I was excited to see (Suffs, Stereophonic), the usual retreads on tour (Sound of Music), and the anticipatory “mehs”.  In the “meh” category was The Notebook, a weepy chick-flick turned musical, based on the original novel by Nicholas Sparks (i.e., it technically wasn’t based on the 2004 movie, but played on the familiarity of the intellectual property. I’ll note that I’ve never seen the movie; it is not the type of movie to which I’d allocate one of my few movie slots a year.

Well, I saw The Notebook last night at the Pantages.

First and foremost, it wasn’t the weepshow I expected (I think back to my reactions to The Bodyguard or Ghost: The Musical). It certainly wasn’t bad. It had an engrossing story that was easy to follow (certainly easier than Stereophonic). The performances were excellent. But overall it wasn’t … memorable. Of course, this is odd for a musical that is at its heart about memory.

The Notebook  is about a couple, Noah and Allie. When we first meet them, Noah is reading a story to Allie, who is in  a home with some form of severe memory loss or dementia, probably Altzheimers. She doesn’t know who Noah is. The story he is reading is their story: how they met, fell in love, had kids, and so on. He believes that when he finishes the story, she’ll come back to him (remember him). That story, is essentially, the musical.

This is not a jukebox musical. The music and lyrics are by Ingrid Michaelson. They are pretty. They also don’t stick in your head; when you walk out of the theatre they are gone. Most of the songs are slower ballads. There are few high-energy numbers, and this isn’t a dance show.  I had gotten the album previously. If I had to compare it musically to something, perhaps it would be Light in the Piazza or Bridges of Madison County. Both of those are mostly slow numbers, and if you asked me to recall the music from those shows afterwards I’d be hard pressed to do so.

What does stick with you afterwards is the performance, especially Beau Gravitte as the Older Noah and Sharon Catherine Brown as the Older Allie. They are a believable couple, and Brown (especially) has the mannerisms down. The part of the story that really touches is her performance: It isn’t the love that touches, it is the loss of life that touches. She brings that to the stage, and Gravitte brings the love. The middle and younger Noahs and Allies bring the youth and energy, but it is the performances of the older Noah and Allie that you leave with. They are the heart and soul of this show.  Also notable was the performance of understudy Makenna Jackson as the younger Allie; she brought a lot of vitality to the role.

One additional thought: During the last song, “Coda”, which is all about remembering life and people, what came to mind was: a parallel with Dear Evan Hansen. DEH has, as one of its things, remembering people. Being seen and not forgotten. The Notebook is also about remembering people and not forgetting them.

Should you go see it? That’s a harder question. You won’t hate it if you see it, and it isn’t polarizing like Stereophonic was. But it is also forgettable. If you’re into weepy love stories, you’ll love it. If you have a parent who is suffering from memory degradation, this might hit too close to home.

The Notebook continues at Broadway in Hollywood through January 26. Tickets are available through the Pantages website.

Credits

The Notebook: The Musical. Book by Bekah Brunstetter. Music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. Directed by Michael Greif & Schele Williams. Choreography by Katie Spelman.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Beau Gravitte Older Noah; Ken Wulf Clark Jesse Corbin Middle Noah; Kyle Mangold Younger Noah; Sharon Catherine Brown Older Allie; Alysha Deslorieux Middle Allie; Chloe Cheers Makenna Jackson Younger Allie; Annie Tolpegin Mother / Nurse Lori; Connor Richardson Johnny; ↑ Jesse Corbin Nick Brogan Lon / others; Jerome Harmann-Hardeman Father / Son / others; Rayna Hickman Nurse Joanna / others; ↑ Makenna Jackson Samantha Rios Sarah / Grandaughter / others; Caleb Mathura Fin / Grandson / others; Grace Ohwensadeyo Rundberg Georgie / Concierge / others. Swings: ↑ Nick Brogan, Aaron Ramey, Shari Washington Rhone, ↑ Samantha Rios, Emily Some, Joe Verga.

Music Department  (♯ indicates local):  Carmel Dean Music Supervision, Co-Orchestrations; John Clancy Co-Orchestrations; Tina Faye Conductor / Keyboard; Mary Grace Ellerbee Assoc. Conductor / Keyboard 2; Gioia Gedicks Violin / Viola; Sarah Fuller Harp; Quinten Hansen Reeds; Michael Karcher, Michiko Egger Guitar; Chris Sutherland Percussion; ♯ Jen Choi Fisher Violin / Viola; ♯ Brian LaFontaine Guitar 2 (Steel String / Nylon String Acoustic / Mandolin); ♯ Brad Gardner Keyboard 2; ♯ Eric Heinly Music Contractor; Kimberlee Wertz Music Coordinator; Billy Jay Stein and Hiro Iida for Strange Cranium Electronic Music Design; Christopher Petti and Harrison Roth Mainbrain / Ableton Programming; Adam Wiggins for Strange Cranium Tour MainStage Programming; Megan Sperger for J&J Music Preparation Music Preparation 

Production and Creative: Ingrid Michaelson Music and Lyrics; Bekah Brunstetter Book; Nicholas Sparks Original Novel Author; Michael Grief Director; Schele Williams Director; Katie Spelman Choreographer; David Zinn Scenic Design; Brett J. Banakis Scenic Design; Paloma Young Costume Design; Ben Stanton Lighting Design; Nevin Steinberg Sound Design; Mia Neal Hair and Wig Design; Lucy MacKinnon Video Design; Claire Warden Intimacy Director; Samantha Rios Dance Captain; Justin Myhre Production Stage Manager; Melissa Richter Stage Manager; Egypt Dixon Asst. Stage Manager; Asmeret Ghebremichael Assoc Director; Emily Madigan Assoc Choreographer; The Telsey Office Casting; Neuro Tour Physical Therapy; Hudson Theatrical Associates Production Management; Theatre Matters General Management; Michael Camp Company Manager; The Booking Group Tour Booking Agency; Allied Global Marketing Tour Marketing & Press; And That’s Showbiz Social Media.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre ^NEW, and 5-Star Theatricals. We just added Chromolume Theatre as our intimate theatre subscription — we subscribed there pre-pandemic when they were at their West Adams location, but they died back in 2018. They started back up last year (but we had seen all their shows); this year, their season is particularly interesting: The Color Purple, If/Then, Elegies (during Hollywood Fringe), and Roadshow (nee Bounce) [by Steven Sondheim]. Mind you, these are all in the intimate theatre setting, and this will be the first time Roadshow has been done in Los Angeles, to my knowledge. Information on purchasing their 2026 season is here. Our previous intimate theatre, Actors Co-Op, seems to be on hiatus.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list.

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• January: ♦ All the Devils Are Here at The Broad; ♦ Jewish for Dinner at the Santa Monica Playhouse; ♣ Tom Chapin @ McCabes.
• February: ♦ Applause at MTG; ♦ Amadeus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Anat Cohen at the Soraya; ♣ Preservation Hall Jazz Band at The Soraya.
• March: ✡ MoTAS Brotherhood Seder at Temple Beth Hillel; ♦ The Color Purple at Chromolume; ♦ The Play That Goes Wrong at 5-Star Theatricals;  ♦ Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper;  ✡ MRJ Man of the Year Dinner at Temple Beth Hillel;  ✡ MoTAS Poker Tournament; Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.
• April: ♦ Kim’s Convenience Store at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; 🧬 California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as 🎭 What Age Takes Away | "The Notebook" @ BIH/Pantages by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.