The stage adaptation of “The Notebook” has opened at Detroit's Fisher Theatre, kicking off the 2026-27 Broadway in Detroit season with a story that trades sweeping romance for something quieter and harder: an elderly man reading his own love story back to the wife who can no longer remember it. The musical, based on Nicholas Sparks's 1996 novel and its 2004 film adaptation, runs through October 4 and marks the first stop for a recently revamped touring cast.
The production centers on Noah Calhoun caring for his wife Allie, who has Alzheimer's disease, inside a residential facility, while he reads her their own story of courtship and a life together, as reported by The Oakland Press. Three different actors play Noah and three play Allie, tracking the couple across teenage, middle, and older age, as the story weaves between their younger meeting, separation, and reunion and the older Noah's present-day devotion. The show pulls from Bekah Brunstetter's Tony Award-nominated script and Ingrid Michaelson's Grammy Award-nominated songs, with choreography from Katie Spelman connecting the layered, multigenerational structure, according to the same Oakland Press account.
A Cast Anchored by a Detroit Native and a Broadway Veteran
John Rubenstein, who is 79 and originated the title role of Pippin on Broadway in 1972, plays older Noah in the Fisher Theatre run, per the Oakland Press report. Older Allie is played for most of the engagement by Angela Birchett, a Detroit native, while original Broadway cast member Yassmin Alers serves as her understudy in the role. The middle-aged versions of the couple are played by Ken Wulf Clark and Alysha Deslorieux, who shares a lifted, physical moment with Clark during the second-act song “Forever,” the outlet notes. Kyle Mangold and Makena Jackson round out the ensemble as young Noah and younger Allie, with Connor Richardson playing physical therapist Johnny. The score includes songs such as “Kiss Me,” “Home,” “Iron in the Fridge,” and “I Love You More,” building to a finale featuring “I Love You More” and “I Know.”
Live Rain and a Story Built on Dementia's Hardest Moments
To heighten key emotional beats between the younger and older versions of the couple, the production incorporates live stage rain effects during performances, according to TodayTix. That staging choice echoes the rain-soaked scene most associated with the film, translated here into a live theatrical device meant to land the story's biggest swings in front of a Detroit audience.
Behind the scenes, co-director Schele Williams made Broadway history in 2024 as the first Black woman in more than 40 years to direct a Broadway musical, sharing directing duties with Michael Greif, according to the Theatre Development Fund. Williams drew from her own experience living with her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, to shape the production's sensitive handling of Allie's memory loss and Noah's caregiving, the organization reports. That personal grounding shows up in how carefully the show balances its romantic momentum against the harder realities of watching a partner's memory fade.
From a Nine-Month Broadway Run to a Cross-Country Tour
“The Notebook” originally played Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, opening in March 2024 and closing that December, according to the Internet Broadway Database. During that run, the musical earned three 2024 Tony Award nominations, including Best Book of a Musical for Brunstetter, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Dorian Harewood, and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maryann Plunkett, per the Tony Awards. The Original Broadway Cast Recording, produced by Atlantic Records, also picked up a 2025 Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.
The national tour officially launched on September 6, 2025, and is scheduled to run through cities across the country until May 16, 2027, according to the Internet Broadway Database's tour listing. Detroit's engagement lands early in that multi-year run, giving local audiences one of the first looks at the tour's newly assembled cast before it continues on to other markets.
Fisher Theatre's Place in Detroit's Season and a Broader Push for Local Turnout
The engagement anchors the 2026-27 ATG Broadway in Detroit subscription series at the Fisher Theatre, which also brings Detroit premieres of “Maybe Happy Ending,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Boop! The Musical” later in the season, according to Week99er. The Fisher Theatre itself, tucked inside the historic Fisher Building at 3011 W. Grand Blvd., originally opened in 1928 as a movie and vaudeville venue before its 1961 remodel into the 2,080-seat live theater still in use today, per Broadway.org's venue history.
Local outreach programs have previously moved the needle on Detroit turnout for touring Broadway shows at the Fisher. Detroit ACE's “Family Night at the Theatre” initiative drove record-breaking ticket sales among Detroit residents during last year's run of “The Wiz,” as Hoodline previously reported. “The Notebook” continues through October 4 at the Fisher Theatre, with tickets and information available through Broadway in Detroit at 313-872-1000.
