Even if you don’t know “The Notebook,” you know that there is a romantic couple at the heart of the story. But in the new Broadway musical version of “The Notebook,” there’s not just one pair, there’s three: three actors playing each of the characters at different times in their lives.
Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:
“We certainly didn’t invent the concept of splitting one character between three actors, but it felt very right for this one,” said the show’s book writer, Becca Brunstetter, who appears with librettist Ingrid Michaelson in the new episode of Stagecraft. miscellaneous Theater podcast. “It allowed us to make our show really different from the movie and the book — and just having those three women and three men in those different time periods allowed me to really make it a play.”
There’s no attempt to make sure that the three sets of actors look the same, and each character is played by actors of more than one race. Pica and Brunstetter said the creative team, including directors Michael Greif and Shelley Williams, made this choice to emphasize the universality of the tale.
“We have this opportunity to take this beloved story and expand it in a way that hopefully people can see themselves, a little part of themselves, or parts of themselves on stage,” Michaelson said. “Why don’t we? What a beautiful way to show the universality of love, loss and everything in between. It takes this beautiful story and opens it up into the sky. In the multiverse.”
“We knew early on that we wanted to create the opportunity for not just white people to see themselves in this story,” Bronstetter added.
Also on a new episode of Stagecraft, Michaelson revealed the incredible torture she endured watching “The Notebook” with an audience, and explained why she felt weaker watching the show than performing her work on stage at one of her concerts. She and Bronstetter also discussed the challenges of striking a delicate balance between pleasing and wowing fans of the story.
But don’t worry: That famous moment in the rain happens, and yes, there is rain on stage. However, none of the creators know whether the water is warm or not. They haven’t tested those waters for themselves yet.
“We have to get there,” Brunstetter said. “This is a good Idea!”
Michaelson agreed. “This is going to be a good TikTok. Becca, I’ll pick you up in the rain!”
To hear the entire conversation, listen to the link above or download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes of “Stagecraft” are released every two weeks.