‘The Notebook’ Musical to Land on Broadway within the Spring

“The Notebook,” Nicholas Sparks’s best-selling 1996 novel a couple of star-crossed couple’s lifelong romance, which was tailored right into a 2004 movie starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, will quickly arrive in New York in one other kind: a Broadway musical.

The manufacturing had a well-reviewed world premiere on the Chicago Shakespeare Theater final fall. Steven Oxman of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that it represented “a significant leap in artistic quality over its sources, which it respects, while also providing a clear, resonant and unique voice of its own.” He had explicit reward for the “poetic” songs, by the indie singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, and the “impressive” onstage rainstorm.

Previews are scheduled to start Feb. 6, and the opening is ready for March 14 on the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, most not too long ago dwelling to “Life of Pi.”

The story of the couple, Noah and Allie, is relayed in flashbacks that come to life because the older Noah reads from a pocket book detailing their love story to the older Allie, who has dementia. (In a change from the ebook and the movie, the story now begins within the Nineteen Sixties as an alternative of the Nineteen Forties.)

In the Chicago manufacturing, Allie and Noah had been every performed by three totally different actors, who embodied them at varied ages. The youthful and older variations of the characters usually share the stage, with the older couple watching as scenes from their previous unfold. (Jordan Tyson and John Cardoza performed the teenage Allie and Noah; Joy Woods and Ryan Vasquez depicted them of their late 20s; and Maryann Plunkett and John Beasley performed the older variations.)

Casting for Broadway has not but been introduced, however one casting change is for certain: Beasley, who performed the older incarnation of Noah, died in May at 79.

The Chicago artistic crew will return for the Broadway run: Michael Greif (“Dear Evan Hansen,” “Rent”) and Schele Williams (“Aida,” “The Wiz”) will direct, with choreography by Katie Spelman (affiliate choreographer of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”). Bekah Brunstetter (“This Is Us”) wrote the ebook, with music and lyrics by Michaelson, a first-time theater composer. It will probably be produced by Kevin McCollum (“Six,” “The Devil Wears Prada”) and Kurt Deutsch, an govt at Warner Music Group.

“The Notebook,” which was Sparks’s first revealed novel, persistently ranks among the many hottest of his greater than 20 books. Though the movie adaptation — directed by Nick Cassavetes from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and tailored by Jan Sardi from the novel — acquired blended critiques, it turned one of many highest-grossing romantic dramas of all time.