Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...It’s an absolutely gorgeous suite of songs, landing somewhere between Duncan Sheik, Jeanine Tesori and Sara Bareilles. The music is romantic and emotionally charged, as you might expect from this particular title, but Michaelson also knows how to inject dramatic drivers into ballads of self-reflection — so much so that their pace grips and holds you, pulling you into the story so that you empathize with its lovers at different stage of their lives."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...For the unfamiliar, “The Notebook” tells the story of Allie and Noah, each played here by three different performers to represent the characters — as the teenagers Younger Allie and Younger Noah (Jordan Tyson and John Cardoza); in their late 20s as Middle Allie and Middle Noah (Joy Woods and Ryan Vasquez); and as Older Allie and Older Noah, elderly inhabitants of a nursing home (Maryann Plunkett and, at opening night, Jerome Harmann-Hardeman understudying for John Beasley)."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Eschewing cheap sentiment, the co-directors ensure "The Notebook" earns its emotion honestly. In a show about love that outlasts youthful infatuation and endures "even to the edge of doom," that makes all the difference."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...If you’re a fan of The Notebook—either the romantically waterlogged, sugary-sentimental 2004 movie or the Nicholas Sparks novel that prompted it—you’ll probably be swept away by the musical, directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams and getting a pre-Broadway run at Chicago Shakespeare."
TheatreMania - Highly Recommended
"...I knew how "The Notebook" was going to end, but I teared up anyway when it happened. "The Notebook" weaves a spell that engages our hearts, rather than trying to wow us with production values. It needs a small Broadway theater such as the Music Box, the James Earl Jones, or the American Airlines Theatre to be at its best. Audiences who value more than brass and pizzazz will embrace the heartfelt sincerity of The Notebook."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...This musical is an instant classic, and one you can and should bring your generations to. There are a lot of questions that can be asked of oneself and of family members on the way home: the most prominent is what is love when you no longer know who you are?"
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The stage production cast beautifully fabricated a lake and astonished the audience by supplying falling rain for the love scene when Noah and Allie rekindle their never-ending love. Still, one thing I would like to see was more creative flair and imagination in designing the scenery (a picture of Noah's house), which will be paramount if this play plans on going to the bright lights of New York's Broadway. Still, The Notebook is outstanding, and if you don't cry at this play, you're probably not human."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Often I am tempted to add another rating system to plays using tissues. There are many plays, musical and non-musicals that are at least a 2 or 3 tissue type of show. “The Notebook” a New Musical, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks and the 2004 movie (screenplay by Jan Sardi and Jeremy Leven) is indeed a five tissue play. I found myself needing two in the first act and three in the second and luckily for me, the lady sitting next to me had read the novel and seen the movie, thus carrying a full box of tissues in her purse."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Noah opens his heart and bares his soul when he confides to Older Allie, “You’re my best friend, as well as my lover. I treasure each side of you, just as I have treasured our life together.” And in the final moments of this remarkably moving and memorable musical play, inspired by the lives of Sparks’ wife’s grandparents, that we all find ourselves in Noah and Allie. This is a stunning production of an emotionally sublime love story that speaks to everyone—all ages, genders and social classes. It’s a show that absolutely should not be missed."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...The show is simply sweet! It revolves around one couple played at three different stages of the relationship. Allie is played by Maryann Plunkett, Joy Woods and Jordan Tyson. Noah is played by Understudy Jerome Harmann Hardeman, Ryan Vasquez and John Cardoza. Each pairing grapple with forces threatening their love and commitment to each other. The romance begins at the end. The show opens at the nursing home. A steadfast Hardeman is reading to a vacant Plunkett. His narration leads into their love-at-first-sight encounter. They fade into the wings as Cardoza and Tyson become the focal point. The teenage twosome playfully exchange pleasantries, splash water and start crushing on each other. Years pass and the courtship now belongs to twentysomethings, Vasquez and Woods. The relationship is at a pivotal juncture. Do they belong together or apart?"
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...Come the spring, Broadway will have lost The Phantom of the Opera as the go-to sure bet for unabashed musical romance. The world premiere of The Notebook at Chicago Shakes, being backed in part by deep Broadway pockets, may just have something to fill that niche."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The Notebook is a love story, told over three stages of the lifetime of its lovers, Allie and Noah. The beloved book by Nicholas Sparks was turned into a 2004 film and now has been recreated as a musical play. Chicago Shakespeare is staging The Notebook after a two-year pandemic delay; it’s likely headed for New York."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Michael Greif, whose Broadway credits include the original version of Rent, co-directs this production with Schele Williams on an absolutely lovely set by David Zinn and Brett Banakis that manages to include the nursing home, the house that Noah builds on the river, and even the river itself, among other more suggested locations. The orchestra also is onstage, but hidden, and under the direction of Geoffrey Ko provides a lush accompaniment to the beautiful vocals from all of the actors. Every element of The Notebook comes together to create an emotional and entertaining night of theatre that I predict will have a long Broadway run. See it now or wait years for the inevitable national tour."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...It was an unexpectedly quiet beginning for the world premiere performance of “The Notebook” at Chicago Shakespeare’s The Yard last night. With an unannounced, subtle start of general actor activity onstage, versus the typical darkened house and scolding pre-show curtain speech, the audience gently honed in on the stage. There had also been no pre-show music or ambient sound filling the house, preparing the audience for the energy and theme of the show. It felt as if CST wasn’t going to give anything away for this new work. Thus, we were in no way prepared for the 2 hour and 15 minute epically emotional voyage ahead of us."
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...Fans of the original movie, like this writer, may similarly be grabbed by new twists and turns in this script. Magical stage design, stellar cast, and a deeply romantic love story make The Notebook: A Musical a night to remember. If you’re a fan like this writer, the adaptation certainly does the original source material justice, but still takes enough pivots to keep you intrigued."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...For an entire generation of readers, hearing the name Nicholas Sparks likely evokes a lot of emotions, since that’s exactly what his heartfelt books do – they tug at the heart strings. When one of Sparks’ most popular books, The Notebook (1996) was made into a movie (2004), fans went wild. The movie was perfectly cast and beautifully told Noah and Allie’s love story. The movie has been a staple in many lives for many years. It’s one that has personally struck a cord with me and brings back floods of memories every time I see it. Whether you read the book or watch the movie, the story told in The Notebook will likely make you cry, make you laugh, fill you with yearning and gratitude and just make you feel – feel all the emotions. The brand new musical version of The Notebook will do the same!"
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...The world premiere musical THE NOTEBOOK captures the sentimental energy of Nicholas's Sparks all-encompassing love story about Allie and Noah, two young lovers who come from entirely different social strata, and has a distinct point of view on its source material."
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...A best-selling 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel and a popular 2004 film with a cult following, “The Notebook” has finally been unveiled as a long-anticipated Broadway-bound musical after several years in development."