My daughter and I arrived at “The Notebook” with differing degrees of familiarity. I read the Nicholas Sparks novel years ago but had not seen the 2004 movie. Neither of us had seen the Broadway musical, but she was familiar with some of the Ingrid Michaelson music.
I knew that we would likely be in tears at the end. She, as we were leaving, hissed at me: “I thought I was seeing a rom-com!” However, she had previously learned and performed one of the “Notebook” songs, “My Days,” and she was enamored of “If This Is Love” and says that will be an upcoming project.
We both enjoyed ourselves, and we agree that “The Notebook,” in town through Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, is not for most kids. A woman’s dementia is the central theme, and it’s a tough, poignant theme. There are also two instances of fairly strongly suggested sex.
The theater asks that kids be 10 or older; I’d probably put the minimum age at about 14.
Kyle Mangold and Chloe Cheers are the young Noah and Allie, who meet as teenagers.
The story of ‘The Notebook’
For those unfamiliar, the long love story of Noah and Allie is told both through flashbacks and through a book that the couple put together, early in her dementia diagnosis, to tell their story. The hope was that, as her memory faded, hearing her story told might spark something. And so Noah reads the story to her, every day, to varying reactions.
In staging the story, the musical uses three, different-age versions of the couple, sometimes on stage at the same time. It sounds odd, but it works.
“The Notebook” has a short run in Seattle, just through Sunday, March 8. Ticket information here. Bring tissues.
Sharon Catherine Brown and Beau Gravitte are the older Allie and Noah in the musical “The Notebook.”
More theater notes: Plan now if you’re hoping to see upcoming tours of “Les Miserables” (April 7-19) or “Phantom of the Opera” (May 13-24). Tickets are going fast. In addition, the 2026-27 Broadway season has just been announced. Likely of interest to families: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” among many other titles.
