CHICAGO—Romance is always appealing to young lovers, but when love spans a lifetime, it will appeal to everyone of all ages. Such is the case with “The Notebook,” the gripping, enchanting new musical that opened at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago, and is bound for Broadway.
The musical, adapted from Nicholas Spark’s 1996 novel, tells the same love story as did the 2004 movie starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. But as a stage production, it feels more intimate and personal than the film, and even more bittersweet.
Those who have seen the movie know its plot by heart. The tale of Allie and Noah, who fall in love as teenagers and whose parents try to separate them, is as old as Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”…