A dramatic, theatrical stage photograph of actors Alysha Deslorieux and Ken Wulf Clark performing as Middle Allie and Middle Noah in The Notebook. They are illuminated by bright overhead stage spotlights against a pitch-black background while heavy, simulated rain falls all around them. In the center, Clark, wearing a wet white tank top and blue jeans, is standing and lifting Deslorieux into the air. Deslorieux, wearing a wet, knee-length blue dress, is looking down into Clark's eyes with their hands resting gently near Clark's face. The image captures an intense, romantic embrace in the middle of a downpour. — Alysha Deslorieux (Middle Allie) and Ken Wulf Clark (Middle Noah)
Credit: Roger Mastroianni.jpg / c/o Straz Center

Anyone feeling like the state of the world has left them unable to express any emotion, take note(book).

Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel—the one that inspired the iconic 2004 movie starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling—hit the stage as a musical in 2022 and has a run at the Straz Center in Tampa through May 31.

Featuring music from “The Way I Am” songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, who worked on production of the play for seven years, the musical follows the movie in its tale of Noah and Allie, star-crossed lovers, as they navigate throes of dementia.

But it’s not a one-to-one adaptation of the book, with writers opting to place the couple in the backdrop of Vietnam Mar (Sparks’ novel is WWII piece), and skipping some details, like the Ferris wheel scene where Noah tries to woo Allie.

“We didn’t want him to come across as resorting to some sort of toxic manipulation to get her attention under the guise of being charming,” she told Rolling Stone, which noted that the musical is actually even more devastating than the movie.

Bring tissue.

Tickets to see “The Notebook” inside Morsani Hall at David A. Straz Center for Performing Arts in Tampa on select nights from May 26-31 are still available and start at $62.20.