Tender ‘The Notebook’ musical adapts iconic love story to stage 

“The Notebook” musical, at the Civic Theatre through Sunday, delivers a tender rendition of one of the most iconic modern American love stories. Plus, the production team has San Diego ties – Poway native Paloma Young designed the costumes and Michael Greif, a UC San Diego alum, co-directed it. 

The musical is based on familiar source material, starting with the best-selling Nicholas Sparks’ book of the same name. But the conversion to the stage adapted the love story in moving ways.

The directors fully utilized the expanse of the stage. The cast lived multiple moments in the couple’s life simultaneously in a theatrical montage. The three generations of actors danced and harmonized together as protagonists Allie and Noah grappled with aging and memories of their younger selves. 

Many of the songs were sweet and soothing, not created in a big-band musical style at all. The tender music made it easy to get lost in the story, especially its wrenching scenes in a nursing home. 

And yes, the movie’s iconic rainy scene was recreated, water and all. 

The six actors performing as the lead couple made the characters consistent over the decades while also depicting how age changes us, from naivete to confidence, then surety to grief.

Of the six actors, Sharon Catherine Brown, who played Older Allie suffering from dementia, stood out the most. Brown delivered a flawless performance that accurately depicted the emotional upheaval of losing one’s memory and with it, a sense of self and safety. 

The cast did a great job all around, not just the Allies and Noahs. The well-meaning physical therapist (Connor Richardson), naive, awkward and hopeful, had an entrancing narrative all his own. Anne Topelgin played Allie’s overbearing mother and world-weary nurse seamlessly, so much so that curtain call felt like a big reveal.

“The Notebook” plays at the Civic Theatre through Sunday. Find tickets at broadwaysd.com.