Photos provided by Roger Mastroianni

There was a full circle feeling in the air when the inaugural Broadway tour of “The Notebook” officially opened at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, since after all, the musical had its world premiere right here at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

A trio of Tony Award nominations later, alongside one for the “Best Musical Theater Album” Grammy, it’s back and better than ever until Sunday, August 16, thanks to a committed cast, a bittersweet book by Bekah Brunstetter and moving lyrics by platinum-plus recording artist Ingrid Michaelson.

It once again follows the Nicholas Sparks’ best-selling novel of the same name, which is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, followed by 2004’s classic film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

Throughout this edition, Sharon Catherine Brown, Alysha Deslorieux and Makena Jackson tackle the various ages of Allie, who grew up in a wealthy family but is now in a nursing home battling Alzheimer’s disease, while Beau Gravitte, Ken Wulf Clark and Kyle Mangold do the equivalent for Noah, her constant love interest and eventual husband, despite a less desirable working class background and age-related ailments of his own.

Told in three overlapping narrations, “The Notebook” chronicles the young couple’s budding, albeit forbidden affair, including Allie initially hesitating to introduce Noah to her parents (Anne Tolpegin and Jerome Harmann-Hardeman), who upon finally meeting, threaten to have him arrested for kidnapping.

Before being forced to flee, he promises to write a letter ever day to the leading lady and does indeed follow through, yet after never receiving them, she winds up getting engaged to the upper crust likes of Lon (Alex Benoit).

As they reconnect a little further the line, it becomes apparent Allie’s mother hid them from her, regardless of realizing their passion was real and reluctantly giving a blessing for them to be together.

Unfortunately in their elder years, Noah has to remind his wife of practically everything relating to the past, and though there are flickers of focus, the pain and misunderstandings of dementia are also threatening to tear them apart.

Luckily, a litany of extremely emotional and empathetic songs recount this enduring romance, which won’t always have audiences crying tears of joy, but nevertheless rejoicing in a relationship able to stand the test of time and circumstance.

“The Notebook” continues at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through Sunday, August 16. For additional details, visit NotebookMusical.com and BroadwayInChicago.com.

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