Review: The Notebook at DPAC Will Have All Of You, Forever, Every Day
In every generation, there are clips or commercials or jingles that everyone calls “the soundtrack of their childhood.” For everyone who grew up watching ABC Family, the 2010s promotions for the movie adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel The Notebook is one of them.
Hailed as arguably his most famous work (and most quoted - who hasn’t heard the “I want all of you, forever, every day, you and me” line?), The Notebook has been adapted into a musical, directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams.
Normally, I am a purist when it comes to adapting books/movies/tv shows for a musical- after all, it was adapted because it was beloved, right? Don’t change it. The Notebook does the exact opposite, and I don’t even care. That’s how good it is.
L - R: Chloë Cheers (Younger Allie), Alysha Deslorieux (Middle Allie), Sharon Catherine Brown (Older Allie)
The premise of the musical is the same - teenage Allie and Noah meet and fall in love one summer before they go their separate ways and re-find each other as adults. But what the musical does so exquisitely is the old idea of “show, don’t tell” by telling the story through the eyes of three separate Allies and Noahs. Younger Allie/Noah (Chloë Cheers/Kyle Mangold), Middle Allie/Noah (Alysha Deslorieux/Ken Wulf Clark), and Older Allie/Noah (Sharon Catherine Brown/Beau Gravitte) are each played by a different actor to show the passage of time. And normally, I despise when musicals do this (I’m looking at you, biographical jukebox musicals) and was expecting a chronological, linear story that shows the characters as they age. Instead, directors Greif and Williams, along with choreographer Katie Spelman, create a visual masterpiece on the stage.
The younger and middle versions of Allie and Noah serve as memories as Older Noah tells the story to Older Allie, creating identical movements and tableaus on the stage to create visual parallels and show the years going by. There is of course also dialogue and traditional scenes to tell the story, but these in-between moments created with the six of them give the musical the same heart and intense emotion lovers of The Notebook expect from this now classic love story. The continuity and juxtaposition join forces to create an effect that had me in tears throughout the show, particularly during musical numbers the different ages performed together, including “Iron in the Fridge” and “We Have to Try.”
L - R: Kyle Mangold (Younger Noah), Younger Allie (Chloë Cheers), Ken Wulf Clark (Middle Noah), Alysha Deslorieux (Middle Allie), Beau Gravitte (Older Noah), Sharon Catherine Brown (Older Allie)
All six Allies and Noahs deserve their accolades. There are often at least two of the three on stage per song, each bringing their own bit of sparkle and personality to the stage of life they represent.
Chloë Cheers (Younger Allie) and Kyle Mangold (Younger Noah)
Cheers is utterly darling and a sweet little geek as Younger Allie, and her banter and chemistry with Mangold keeps the charm of the source material while taking out all of the toxicity we now can recognize in 2026 (credit to book writer Bekah Brunstetter, who tactfully realized modern audiences probably wouldn’t appreciate casual suicide threats if Allie refused to go out with Noah and instead stayed closer to the original book- looking at you, ferris wheel movie scene). Songs like “Blue Shutters,” “I Paint,” and “Sadness and Joy” bring the sweet naivety of first love but also a sort of captivating magnetism and intensity.
Clark’s Middle Noah is just as charming as his younger counterpart, but this time his pain and wistful memories are much more tangible in songs like “Leave the Light On” as he finally gets his big, main character, heart-is-broken song. Deslorieux’s Middle Allie gets her own moment to shine during her number “My Days,” demonstrating her flawless vocal control and technique.
But it is Older Noah (Gravitte) who has the best lines in the show as he finds the balance between warmth and just enough snark to keep the younger versions of Noah in there somewhere. Older Allie (Brown) is the opposite, and instead most of her genius is demonstrated in her facial expressions and reactions to the goings on around her.
Sharon Catherine Brown (Older Allie) and Beau Gravitte (Older Noah)
The production features music and lyrics from Ingrid Michaelson, elegant sets (and an unforgettable on stage rain sequence) created from scenic designers David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis and video design from Lucy Mackinnon, clever costume design from Paloma Young, lighting design from Ben Stanton, and sound design from Nevin Steinberg.
The Notebook runs at the Durham Performing Arts Center through Sunday, July 19, 2026. The production features special effects, including haze, rain, flashing lights, and loud sounds such as sirens and thunder. Tickets can be purchased here.
All photo credit to Roger Mastroianni
