Review: Touring production of ‘The Notebook’ is a reminder of the power of memory

First publishedAug 7, 10:28 UTC

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Chicago Sun-Times6Review: Touring production of ‘The Notebook’ is a reminder of the power of memoryAug 7, 10:28 UTCOpen ↗

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<p>The musical version of “The Notebook” returns to Chicago, where it received its <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/10/7/23392910/the-notebook-review-chicago-shakespeare-theater-superb-romance" target="_blank" ><u>world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare in the fall of 2022</u></a>, now in a post-Broadway national tour.</p><p>I’m not quite sure whether the show has changed or I have — or more likely, a swirling combination of changes in time, cast, theater venue, expectations and more — but the show makes a different and less striking impression.</p><p>Based on the bestselling, tearjerking novel by Nicholas Sparks about a love story that begins in youth and ends in elderly dementia — made even more famous by the 2004 film version starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams — the musical has a score by multiplatinum indie singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter (Emmy-nominated producer and writer for the TV show “This Is Us”), both of which made some bold choices.</p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.0" data-align-center> <div class="RatingCard-title"> ‘The Notebook’ </div> <div class="RatingCard-content"> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star"> <span class="RatingCard-star-full"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> <span class="RatingCard-star-half"> <svg class=""> <use xlink:href="#icon-star"></use> </svg> </span> </span> </div> </div><p></p><div class="RichTextSidebarModule Enhancement" data-module data-align-center><a class="AnchorLink" id="module-520000" name="module-520000"></a> <div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody"><b>When:</b> Through Aug. 16<br><b>Where:</b> Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St.<br><b>Tickets:</b> $37-$112<br><b>Info:</b> <a class="Link" href="http://broadwayinchicago.com" target="_blank" ><u>broadwayinchicago.com</u></a><br><b>Run time:</b> 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission</div> </div><p>Rather than a straightforward narrative, Brunstetter leaned into the conceptual frame of the story, in which the older Noah (Beau Gravitte) reads to his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife Allie (Sharon Catherine Brown) from the titular notebook Allie wrote before she descended into complete forgetfulness. The idea is that the memories of their rocky but deep love story will “bring her back” to Noah.</p><p>Brunstetter, with help from directors Michael Greif and Schele Williams, creates a memory-scape where three versions of the couple — as teenagers (Kyle Mangold and Makena Jackson), as late twentysomethings (Ken Wulf Clark and Alysha Deslorieux) and as the elderly couple in a nursing home — move fluidly on and offstage throughout, often even sharing songs.</p><p>And those songs from Michaelson focus on the smaller, individual moments, often with characters talking (that is, singing) to themselves, trying to understand their own complex emotions more than freely expressing undying devotion or heartache.</p><p>In 2022, this thoughtful, somewhat quiet and fragmented take on time, memory, life and love came off as deeply meditative and somehow spot-on for the moment, infused with the lingering loneliness of the pandemic.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-390000" name="image-390000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ab23b96/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d5e73bc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b417f6d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Alysha Deslorieux and Ken Wulf Clark are Allie and Noah in “The Notebook.”" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b417f6d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/78ef53e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b417f6d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5332x2992+0+2503/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fca%2F05%2F290152704d06ac59fa4d5a1dbdbe%2Fnotebook-090525-1462r-1.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Alysha Deslorieux and Ken Wulf Clark portray the late twentysomething versions of Allie and Noah in “The Notebook.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Roger Mastroianni</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>To this day, I recall the quality of its wistful sentiment above all, easily forgiving all the sacrifices it made to express it.

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  Review: Touring production of ‘The Notebook’ is a reminder of the power of memory

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