Ingrid Michaelson Details How Broadway Version of ‘The Notebook’ Differs From Film: ‘A Lot More Magical’ (Exclusive)

Ingrid Michaelson is revealing details about the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of The Notebook — for which she wrote the music — and how the onstage rendition will differ from the beloved 2004 film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. 

"We had our out-of-town run in Chicago [at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater] last summer, and it was a really wonderful success. It was just beautiful. And now — it's crazy to say — we're coming into Broadway. It's just crazy to say that we have a home on Broadway," she exclusively tells The Messenger.

Michaelson — whose single "Feelings" from the new Slumberkins album, Together We Shine, Vol. 1, was released in August — continues: "What can you expect? Well, we're not doing the movie. This is my opinion: I like when a musical diverges somewhat from the movie because if you want to watch the movie, you can go watch the movie. In a musical, people are singing it automatically. It's got to be a little different. So we're definitely shifting some things. The story is the same. The characters are the same, but we're definitely playing with it and making it a lot more theatrical and a lot more magical."

Noting that she doesn't "want to give too much away," the singer-songwriter says the musical adaptation of The Notebook is a "really a beautiful, beautiful show," adding, "I really feel like it's kind of just one of the most important things I've done in my career."

Michaelson goes on to say that they've had "barely" any contact with Nicholas Sparks, the author of the original 1996 bestselling novel, while writing and preparing the show — but for good reason.

"He's kind of been like, 'I trust you guys. I trust your team. Go do what you want to do,'" she explains. "We've kind of had free rein to have to really go for it and make a really interesting, beautiful piece of art of the story."