“The Notebook,” a musical adapted from the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, will end its Broadway run on Dec. 15 after struggling to find sufficient ticket buyers during a competitive spring and summer.
But this is not the end of the road for the musical. The producers, who announced the closing on Friday, said they plan a national tour of the show starting next September at Playhouse Square in Cleveland; some musicals, particularly those with well-known titles, fare better on tour than in New York.
The musical, like the 1996 book and a 2004 film adaptation, is the story of a lifelong romance, told from the point of view of an older couple, one of whom has Alzheimer’s disease. Featuring songs by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter, “The Notebook” is directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams.
The show began previews Feb. 10 and opened March 14 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. A pre-Broadway production at Chicago Shakespeare Theater had been well-received, but in New York, reviews were mixed; The New York Times’s chief theater critic, Jesse Green, called it “meretricious” (look it up: It’s not a compliment).
Onstage, three pairs of actors play the lead characters at different stages of their lives; the musical is set in a coastal mid-Atlantic town in the 1960s, the 1970s and the present day. “The Notebook” was nominated for three Tony Awards but won none.
It is the fourth musical to announce earlier-than-hoped-for closing dates since May, following “Lempicka,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll” and “The Who’s Tommy.” Broadway is always a difficult industry, and most shows fail financially, but the odds of success are particularly long now because production costs have risen, audience size has fallen, and there is a high volume of shows competing for attention. At the time of its closing, “The Notebook” will have played 35 previews and 317 regular performances.
“The Notebook,” with Kevin McCollum and Kurt Deutsch as lead producers, was capitalized for up to $15 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That money has not been recouped.
Read More: ‘The Notebook’ Will End Its Broadway Run in December. A Tour Is Next.
