‘The Notebook’ Musical Plans West End Premiere
Developing story first seen 4 hours ago
The Notebook musical is set to make its West End debut in spring 2027, with performances beginning at the newly named Judi Dench Theatre. The production will be the first musical at the venue, formerly the Shaftesbury Theatre, bringing the stage adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s novel to London.
Performances begin on 10 March, with opening night on 13 April, and booking is currently available until 11 December. No cast has been announced; Ingrid Michaelson wrote the music and lyrics, Bekah Brunstetter wrote the book, and Michael Greif and Schele Williams will direct. The Broadway production ran from March to December 2024, and a North American tour launched in September 2025.
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In short
- The Notebook musical arrives in London in March 2027.
- It will be the first musical at the Judi Dench Theatre.
- The cast has not yet been announced.
How this story developed
- 2 hours ago The Notebook musical will make its West End debut in spring 2027, bringing the stage adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s novel to London. It will be the first musical at the newly named Judi Dench Theatre, formerly the Shaftesbury Theatre.
- 2 hours ago The Notebook musical is set to make its West End debut in spring 2027, with performances beginning at the newly named Judi Dench Theatre.
Full account
The stage musical adaptation of The Notebook will make its West End debut in 2027, with previews due to begin on 10 March and an official opening scheduled for 13 April. It will be the first production at the Judi Dench Theatre, the new name for the Shaftesbury Theatre. No cast has been announced. The production is booking through 11 December, though the reports do not specify the year for that date.
Based on Nicholas Sparks’s novel, the musical has a book by Bekah Brunstetter and music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson. Michael Greif and Schele Williams will direct, with choreography by Katie Spelman. The wider creative team includes music supervision and arrangements by Carmel Dean, scenic design by David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis, and costume design by Paloma Young, alongside specialists in lighting, sound, hair and wigs, orchestration, vocal arrangements and music direction.
Sparks described the story’s worldwide response as beyond what he expected when the novel was published three decades ago, and welcomed the London production as its latest stage incarnation. Michaelson said she was pleased to revisit the show with Brunstetter and the creative team, and called it an honour for the musical to open at the newly named theatre. Brunstetter said adapting the love story had been a joy and that the team looked forward to rediscovering it with London audiences.
The musical first played on Broadway in 2024. That production began previews in February, opened in March and closed in December of that year; a North American tour began in September 2025 and is continuing, according to the first report. The second report also places the show in the context of the novel and the 2004 film, and recalls Michaelson’s comments about shaping the musical around memory, love and grief.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first outlet gives a full list of the London creative team and reports the booking end date as 11 December, without specifying a year. The second names Jill Green Casting but does not provide the wider design and music credits or a booking end date.
The second outlet explicitly identifies the novel as a 1996 work and mentions the 2004 film adaptation; the first focuses instead on the musical’s Broadway run and ongoing North American tour. It also includes Michaelson’s earlier comments on the show’s treatment of memory, love and grief, which the first does not.
Both reports give the same preview and opening dates and identify the theatre by its new name, but neither announces the London cast. The first notes that the Broadway production received mixed reviews; the second leaves that out.
Explained simply
The Notebook began as a 1996 novel by American writer Nicholas Sparks, telling a love story framed by an older man reading from a notebook to a woman with memory loss. It was adapted into a 2004 film, which helped make the story widely known.
The stage musical uses music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and a script by Bekah Brunstetter. Its Broadway run in 2024 and a North American tour that began in 2025 brought the adaptation to audiences in the United States and Canada.
The London production will be the first musical at the theatre formerly known as the Shaftesbury Theatre, which has been renamed the Judi Dench Theatre. Its arrival brings a recent American stage adaptation of a familiar story to the West End.