Vlad Bunoan

Morissette and Laurence Mossman in a scene from ‘The Notebook.’ Jyllan Bitalac and Sherie Bolo

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17887701419571Theatre Group Asia_s The Notebook The Musical - Morissette as Middle Allie, Laurence Mossman as Middle Noah.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">Morissette and Laurence Mossman in a scene from &lsquo;The Notebook.&rsquo; Jyllan Bitalac and Sherie Bolo&nbsp;</div>One of the things that surprised me most while watching Theatre Group Asia&#39;s &quot;The Notebook&quot; was how much it reminded me of the late Bobby Garcia.This is only TGA&#39;s third musical, but of the three, this is the production that most strongly brings Garcia&#39;s brilliance to mind. There is something of his spirit in Filipino-American Nicholas Polonio&#39;s direction: the sense that a director can take material that is, on paper, not necessarily top-tier, and elevate it into something far more memorable than it has any right to be.That was one of Garcia&#39;s great gifts during the Atlantis Productions years. He could find the theatrical possibilities in imperfect material and, through sheer clarity of vision, make the finished product feel greater than the sum of its parts.Polonio does something similar with &quot;The Notebook.&quot;The musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2024, was not universally embraced by critics. It received three Tony Award nominations, including for the performances of its two older leads and for Bekah Brunstetter&#39;s book, but reviews were decidedly mixed.What makes TGA&rsquo;s production shine is how Polonio shapes the material. This is a non-replica production, meaning Polonio has created an entirely original staging &mdash; and almost nothing here seems lifted from the Broadway version. While Brunstetter&#39;s book and Ingrid Michaelson&#39;s folk-pop score remain, almost everything about the theatrical presentation bears Polonio&#39;s stamp. And it is that vision that transforms &quot;The Notebook&quot; from a fairly middle-of-the-road musical into something genuinely memorable.A major part of that is the casting, particularly the decision to convince Morissette to return to the theater. Morissette is at the center of what makes this production soar. Her performance is outstanding not only vocally but, perhaps more surprisingly, as an actor. She stole the show with &ldquo;My Days&rdquo; &mdash; and with an orchestra reveal that just sweeps you off your feet. The staging arguably changes the complexion of the number, turning it into something almost like a standalone musical set piece, but the effect is undeniably breathtaking. For me, it is one of the most indelible musical numbers I have seen in recent years &mdash; effortlessly sung, beautifully staged, and pitched almost perfectly.Opposite her, Laurence Mossman grounds his performance in palpable yearning and internalized vulnerability. When the iconic cinematic rain sequence finally arrives &mdash; prompting a rush of audience anticipation &mdash; it absolutely delivers. Gorgeously lit and emotionally earned, the sequence honors its film counterpart while glistening as pure theater.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17887703522192Theatre Group Asia_s The Notebook The Musical - Sheena Belarmino as Younger Allie, Benedix Ramos as Younger Noah.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">Benedix Ramos and Sheena Belarmino in a scene from &lsquo;The Notebook.&rsquo; Jyllan Bitalac and Sherie Bolo&nbsp;</div>The younger pairing of Benedix Ramos and Sheena Belarmino provides another essential ingredient. They have exactly the kind of giddiness the story requires: the excitement of teen love, and the recklessness of a summer fling. Even when the romance becomes physical, the production maintains a sense of innocence and tenderness. It feels like one of those moments in life that people want to remember &mdash; a picture-perfect ideal of first love.And memory, of course, is at the heart of &quot;The Notebook.&quot;One of the most interesting decisions in adapting Nicholas Sparks&#39; novel and its film version for the stage was to divide Allie and Noah into three versions representing different periods of their lives. At times, all three versions occupy the stage simultaneously. It is an ingenious theatrical device because it gives a familiar story a more contemporary sensibility.&quot;The Notebook&quot; is, when reduced to its basic elements, a very conventional romance. We have seen this story many times before: a poor boy and a wealthy girl fall in love, her parents disapprove, circumstances separate them, and they eventually find their way back to each other. The conceit of having three Allie-and-Noah pairings allows the story to jump between time periods, sometimes returning to the present before moving back into the past. It creates intrigue without stalling the narrative. The shifting timeline becomes part of the emotional architecture of the story rather than simply a gimmick.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17887704595793Theatre Group Asia_s The Notebook The Musical - Benedix Ramos as Younger Noah, Sheena Belarmino as Younger Allie, Jiallian Ita-as as Georgie, Shaun Ocrisma as Fin, Felicity Kyle Napuli as Sarah.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">A scene from &lsquo;The Notebook.&rsquo; Jyllan Bitalac and Sherie Bolo&nbsp;</div>Polonio&#39;s visual approach is equally thoughtful. He has spoken about drawing inspiration from old-fashioned Broadway romances, and he makes a deliberate choice to avoid video projections and rely instead on scenery and traditional stagecraft. What is remarkable is that the result does not feel outdated.Miguel Urbino&#39;s set looks strikingly contemporary, although I did occasionally feel that the theater itself was almost too large for the intimacy of this story. He uses screens and layers of scenery, while more realistic set pieces appear against a dreamlike backdrop. The set&rsquo;s centerpiece is a stylized, skeletal silhouette of a Southern plantation house &mdash; a fitting symbol for a musical where coming home is a recurring theme.Most importantly, the design has a clear dramatic purpose. The stage is effectively divided into two worlds. At the front is the present: the hospice where Older Allie and Older Noah reside. Behind a screen is the past &mdash; their memories &mdash; and this separation is immediately legible.And that matters, because &quot;The Notebook&quot; is ultimately a story about remembering. Not memory as mere nostalgia, but memory as something essential to identity and who we are as people. As Allie&#39;s Alzheimer&#39;s disease gradually takes that memory away, Noah reads from a notebook to her &mdash; a story she herself wrote but can no longer recall.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17887706485794Theatre Group Asia_s The Notebook The Musical - Celeste Legaspi as Older Allie, Rody Vera as Older Noah.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">Rody Vera and Celeste Legaspi in a scene from &lsquo;The Notebook.&rsquo; Jyllan Bitalac and Sherie Bolo&nbsp;</div>It is Rody Vera&#39;s profound commitment to Older Noah that truly binds the entire production together. While Celeste Legaspi&#39;s accent takes a moment to settle into, Vera&#39;s quiet devotion eventually smooths over any inconsistencies. When he and Legaspi interact, the emotional truth of their relationship is what lands, with their exchanges pivoting from giggly warmth to ultimately crushing heartbreak.You&rsquo;ve likely heard the warning by now to bring tissue, which the production even sells as official merchandise. Yes, &quot;The Notebook&quot; will likely make you cry. But I want to qualify that, especially for those who already know the story.&nbsp;Without spoiling the finale for anyone who has not read the book or seen the movie, the tears earned here are not born strictly from grief. It is the beauty of what unfolds next, the purity of the moment, and the sense of completeness it brings to the love story that ultimately hits you.It is a very different image from the Broadway production, and it is one of the clearest examples of what Polonio has accomplished here. By finding his own profound theatrical language, Polonio was able to turn an old love story into an extraordinary theatrical event.<div> </div><div>&ldquo;The Notebook&rdquo; runs until September 20, 2026 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit Makati.</div>

A familiar love story gets an unexpectedly fresh theatrical treatment in Theatre Group Asia’s ‘The Notebook,’ thanks to Nicholas Polonio’s assured direction and an exceptional cast led by Morissette.

A familiar love story gets an unexpectedly fresh theatrical treatment in Theatre Group Asia’s ‘The Notebook,’ thanks to Nicholas Polonio’s assured direction and an exceptional cast led by Morissette.

Theater review: ‘The Notebook’ turns a familiar love story into something memorable

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Theater review: ‘The Notebook’ turns a familiar love story into something memorable

Vlad Bunoan,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 07, 2026 05:04 PM PHT

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theater review

The Notebook

Theatre Group Asia

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