![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Unknown4-e1769803845987.jpeg\")
<\/a>Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
I had missed The Notebook, The Musical<\/em> when it was playing in Hollywood a few weeks ago, so when I realized that the National Tour was moving to Segerstrom Hall, Roz and I happily declared, \u201cDay trip!\u201d But getting there, (a straight shot on the 405,) was actually a breeze. I didn\u2019t even have to pack all the wardrobe, purses, and outerwear that I did, like I was going to the Arctic for a week! That was crazy. (But have you met<\/em> me???)<\/p>\n We went down there early to explore the amazing South Coast Plaza supreme shopping structure. I had read that it\u2019s the \u201cRodeo Drive of Orange County,\u201d but I could not imagine the luxury we would find\u2026in a mall! I\u2019ve honestly never seen anything like that before! And I\u2019m a big mall aficionado. (When Mr. X was doing a play in Alberta, Canada several years back, I tagged along and spent three hours a night at the West Edmonton Mall, and still<\/em> never got it all done\u2026in two months! True story.)<\/p>\n And then we did something I rarely do\u2014have a bite to eat at a Happy Hour! I\u2019ve never seen Roz enjoy a meal as much. It was so relaxing, as was this entire adventure.<\/p>\n South Coast Plaza is directly across from the Segerstrom Center, and there\u2019s a bridge you can walk over between the two, but we chose to just drive across and equally-easily park right at the Center, which we discovered consists of a trio of theaters. It\u2019s all so attractive and inviting.<\/p>\n Inside South Coast Plaza. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Segerstrom Hall itself is a beautiful theatre, as I found-out during my initial visit there a little over a year ago, to see ABT\u2019s stunning The Nutcracker<\/em>. (I believe they present that ballet\u00a0every<\/em> year; here\u2019s the link to my review, so that you can remember to see it this<\/em> December: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/dance-american-ballet-theatres-the-nutcracker<\/a>.) And most of the audience members were dressed really nicely, which you know I love.<\/p>\n The most amazing aspect of the whole evening to us was that the place was packed on what my mother would refer to as \u201ca plain little Tuesday night!\u201d That\u2019s a testament to the Segerstrom and its patrons.<\/p>\n Now, as to The Notebook, The Musical<\/em>\u00a0itself, we\u2019re glad we saw it. As a native New Yorker, I\u2019m always extremely thankful to get to see legit Broadway productions out here, and I wholly appreciate the few venues who afford us those opportunities. I like to see all shows for myself, whether or not I wind-up being a fan.<\/p>\n Sharon Catherine Brown and Beau Gravitte. So, in this case, neither Roz nor I loved The Notebook, The Musical<\/em>, with her deeming it to be \u201cflat.\u201d We had both, of course, seen the 2004 movie that the show is based on, which starred Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, and Gena Rowlands, and were touched by it. But, in an attempt to make this musical bigger than the lowkey sweet love story in the book and film, the writers lost a lot of the pathos that marked it.<\/p>\n I suggest you look up the plot before you see this show, but I\u2019m happy to help-out the few of you who are not familiar with The Notebook<\/em>. The basic narrative is that an old man reads a love story to an old woman with dementia in a nursing home. And we see the tale of the young couple unfold as he reads. The movie has a surprise near the end, which is what makes it special, but since so many people have<\/em> seen it, or read the novel on which it\u2019s based, that surprise almost-end wouldn\u2019t work in a stage piece. (It\u2019s that the woman the old man is reading to is actually his dementia-stricken wife, and the journey is their own; she wrote it when she started losing her memory.) And at the very<\/em> end, they both die holding hands, which is the way we all<\/em> wish to go, isn\u2019t it? (Except for the lunatics who murder their spouses, of course. I think I watch too much Dateline<\/em>!)\u00a0I now know that the deaths happen in the musical, as well, but I didn\u2019t notice it that night amongst the entire cast coming on stage to sing the finale. But my nescience of that situation really didn\u2019t matter to the big picture.<\/p>\n The three iterations of Noah and Allie. (Silly me thought the couple on the bed was just sleeping!) Photo by Roger Mastroianni.<\/p><\/div>\n I do have to make note of something that did bother me a bit, but, surprisingly, I got over it pretty quickly this time, which I\u2019ve since learned some others, (especially online,) have not. It\u2019s what\u2019s referred to as \u201ccolorblind casting.\u201d Being a proponent of civil rights since I was a little girl, I so appreciate that all deserving actors, regardless of race, age, sexual identity, height, weight, whatever, get more roles these days than ever before. But it\u2019s just very confusing for the audience when shows are cast that way because, when it involves main characters, as it does in The Notebook<\/em>, we don\u2019t know whether or not that\u2019s part of the story. In this case, the couple, Noah and Allie, are portrayed as an interracial duo. So it looks like that\u2019s an important part of the plot, when it\u2019s not at all. The musical takes place in the 1960s and \u201970s, and let me tell you, as one half of an interracial couple some years after that, even in our liberal cities of New York and Los Angeles, my boyfriend and I were shunned all over the place. Interracial dating was mostly unaccepted back then, and, in the \u201960s and \u201870s, it definitely would not<\/em> have been in the South, where the musical appears to be set. (The setting is at least South-adjacent<\/em> because the program doesn\u2019t specify exact<\/em> location of the action\u2014it simply states \u201cA coastal town in the Mid-Atlantic.\u201d) So the races of the people involved, (including the girl\u2019s interracial parents, who would have gotten together in the 1940s!,) would have been a major<\/em> issue in their love story.\u00a0And that\u2019s where the confusion could come in for people seeing it. (I\u2019ve read that the situation was even more baffling on Broadway\u2014both younger Allies were black while the Older Allie was white! And it was reversed for the guys\u2014the younger Noahs were white with the Older Noah being black. I had to research that info for myself, several times, actually, to make sure it was true.)<\/p>\n On a related side note, I once reviewed a play where the main character was a teen-age girl, whose age was mentioned several times in the show. But she was being played by a woman who was close to sixty<\/em>! It made the whole show pretty puzzling; we could not concentrate on anything else we were seeing. It turned-out that the actress was also producing it so she could play the role herself. But it was just an awful execution of the script.<\/p>\n The three “Allie”s: (L-R) Chlo\u00eb Cheers, Alysha Deslorieux, and Sharon Catherine Brown. Photo by Roger Mastroianni.<\/p><\/div>\n The casting aside, there are<\/em> some positives to The Notebook, The Musical<\/em>. Roz really appreciated what she deemed to be \u201ccreative lighting\u201d because there are tall skinny \u201csticks\u201d of light coming down from above.\u00a0 She said, \u201cThe lighting was a fascinating character for me.\u201d\u00a0 (I<\/em>, on the other hand, thought that it was way too dark, in general, which a lot of lighting designers seem to think they have to do to fit the mood of the theme. But it\u2019s a show<\/em>, not real life\u2014I want to be able to see<\/em> it!)<\/p>\n We both took note of how easily the set moved from one scene to the next.<\/p>\n And seeing three iterations of the couple, (Young, Middle, and Older,) as opposed to the film\u2019s duo of them, is interesting. It makes the passage of time clear to the entire audience, since they don\u2019t have to rely on subtle changes to characters\u2019 appearances to figure-out which decade they\u2019re observing in each scene. And seeing all three males or females doing a song or scene together as one entity is sort-of powerful.<\/p>\n The three “Noah”s: (L-R) Kyle Mangold, Beau Gravitte, and Ken Wulf Clark. Photo by Roger Mastroianni.<\/p><\/div>\n The brightest spot in the cast for me is Connor Richardson as a very funny physical therapist at the healthcare facility. My fellow audience members and I really perked-up every time he came on.<\/p>\n The entire cast sings well. I most enjoyed Ken Wulf Clark\u2019s, (as the Middle Noah,) lovely Broadway-esque voice.<\/p>\n But the songs themselves leave a lot to be desired. They all sound the same, with not one memorable ditty in the bunch.<\/p>\n One weird issue is that the program lists a choreographer, but there\u2019s no dancing in the show! At one point, the girl teaches the guy one basic step, (akin to one, two, cha cha cha,) but no expert is needed for that. I don\u2019t get that credit at all.<\/p>\n I have three final thoughts on Segerstrom Hall itself. First up is that I love that the show started on time there! Trust me, that\u2019s far from the norm in theatres these days.<\/p>\n Segerstrom Center.<\/p><\/div>\n Next is one tiny word of advice: Dress in layers, including one heavy<\/em> one, because it\u2019s pretty cold in there; I had some air blowing right on me. I even put on a mask, not because of germs, but to warm-up my face!<\/p>\n My last thought is my favorite\u2014there is one thing I have never seen done anywhere else, which totally impressed me. And that is that, both in the restrooms, and more importantly, on stands on the way out of Segerstrom Hall, are\u2026tissue boxes! Just in case any audience members cry at what is considered a tearjerker. What a thoughtful touch!\u00a0 It\u2019s just another reason I plan to be a regular there from now on.<\/p>\n The Notebook, The Musical<\/em> running February 8, 2026<\/strong> THE NOTEBOOK, THE MUSICAL I\u2019ll get to my review of the Broadway musical version of The Notebook in a minute, but first I must tell you about the absolutely fabulous time that my friend Roz and I had at Costa Mesa\u2019s wonderful Segerstrom Center for the Arts, (and surrounding area,) earlier this week. So to<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
Photo by Roger Mastroianni, as is the one at the top of this review.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Segerstrom Center for the Arts\u2014Segerstrom Hall<\/strong>
\n 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa<\/strong>
\n 714-556-2787 www.scfta.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"