Yearning Across the Rainbow
“Yearning is in our DNA,” I remarked to my editor when discussing the pre-Broadway run of The Notebook at Chicago’s prestigious Shakespeare Theater. On its surface, The Notebook – based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel and the 2004 hit film – appears a classic boy-meets-girl story. But peering deeper reveals a narrative brimming with the ache and longing familiar to many LGBTQ+ lives.
As crafted by playwright Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us) and songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, The Notebook resonates across the rainbow. It’s a meditation on overcoming obstacles, societal disapproval, and inner turmoil to follow one’s heart – universal quandaries faced by queer communities. Though Noah and Allie’s love story is cisgender and heterosexual, its core of nostalgia and star-crossed passion transcends orientation.
A Decade of Yearning
The show shuttles between two timelines: Noah and Allie as lovesick teens in the 1940s and their bittersweet reunion in the 1950s. In both eras, their romance faces formidable barriers. Class differences and disapproving parents tear them apart as youths, leading to 10 years of pining and regret. When they reunite as adults, Allie is engaged to another man, although her heart still belongs to Noah.
Paramount Theatre - Seattle 
