The Notebook: Romantic drama starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams being turned into Broadway musical

The Nicolas Sparks romance novel, which was adapted into the 2004 hit film, will now debut on the stage

The Notebook is being turned into a Broadway musical.

The Nicolas Sparks romance novel, which was adapted into the 2004 hit film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, is being developed into a musical by Bekah Brunstetter, a supervising producer on NBC’s This Is Us, and singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, known for tracks “Girls Chase Boys” and “The Way I Am”.

The Notebook marked Sparks’s debut novel, published in 1996, and opened on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week of publication.

The book and film open on an old man (played by James Garner in the film) recounting a story to a woman (Gena Rowlands) in a nursing home.

His tale traces a romance between a poor quarry worker and a 17-year-old heiress, who are torn apart by their class divide but continue to yearn for each other.

“When I first heard about The Notebook potentially being turned into a musical, I was instantly drawn to the idea,” Brunstetter told Variety. “The story hits home for me in two big ways: it takes place in my home state of North Carolina, and Alzheimer’s runs deep in my family.”

Michaelson added: “When I was approached about working on The Notebook, I had to excuse myself and go to the bathroom and cry and come back into the meeting.”

"I have loved the movie and the story for so many years now that the idea of turning it into a musical overwhelmed me. The concept of unending devotion and love wrapped up in memory and family is something very close to my own personal life. The story sings to me so perfectly."

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