‘The Notebook’ Musical Cast Announced: Dorian Harewood Returning To Broadway After 45 Years

The musical adaptation of The Notebook will arrive in New York this February with its acclaimed Chicago cast nearly intact: Actor Dorian Harewood will take over for the late John Beasley, marking a return to Broadway after a 45-year absence.

Producers Kevin McCollum and Kurt Deutsch today announced the Broadway casting for the actors playing three versions of the story’s Allie and Noah: Portraying the couple in their younger days are Jordan Tyson and John Cardoza; the middle-years couple will be played by Joy Woods and Ryan Vasquez; and Older Allie and Noah will be portrayed by Tony Award-winner Maryann Plunkett and Harewood.

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All but Harewood were in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s 2022 production. Everwood actor John Beasley, who played Older Noah in the Chicago production, died in May at age 79.

The Notebook, based on the 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel, begins previews at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on Saturday, February 10, 2024, ahead of a Thursday, March 14 opening night. Additional casting announced soon.

A familiar presence on Broadway during the 1970s, Harewood starred in Streamers, Don’t Call Back, Two Gentlemen of Verona and, in his last appearance, the short-lived The Mighty Gents, in which Harewood co-starred with Howard Rollins Jr. and Morgan Freeman. A prolific film and TV career following, with credits Full Metal Jacket, Against All Odds, Roots: The Next Generations, Criminal Minds, Private Practice, I’ll Fly Away and The Jesse Owens Story, among many others.

The Notebook features music and lyrics by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and a book by playwright Bekah Brunstetter (writer and producer on NBC’s This Is Us). The production is directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, Rent) and Schele Williams (Aida, The Wiz), with choreography by Katie Spelman (Associate Choreographer on Moulin Rouge! The Musical).

David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis are the scenic designers, with costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, and hair and wig design by Mia Neal. The production’s music supervisor is Carmel Dean, who collaborated on arrangements with Ingrid Michaelson and on orchestrations with John Clancy. The music director is Geoffrey Ko.

The synopsis: Allie and Noah, both from different worlds, share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart. The 2004 film version starred Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and, as the older versions of the characters, Gena Rowlands and James Garner.

Credits for the rest of the Broadway cast include:

• Plunkett (Older Allie) – Broadway’s Agnes of God, Sunday in the Park with George, The Crucible, St. Joan, A Man for All Seasons, The Seagull and, winning her a Tony, Me and My Girl. Film and TV credits include Blue Valentine, Manifest, New Amsterdam and Star Trek: The Next Generation;

• Cardoza (Younger Noah) – Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill on Broadway, and Moulin Rouge national tour;

• Tyson (Younger Allie) – Broadway debut, with regional credits including The Notebook, Into The Woods, and Lempicka;

• Vasquez (Middle Noah) – Broadway’s Hamilton, Waitress and Wicked. Film & TV: tick… tick… BOOM!, In the Heights, The Good Fight;

• Woods (Middle Allie) – Broadway’s Six, Off Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors, I Can Get It for You Wholesale.

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