Broadway's 'The Notebook' writer Bekah Brunstetter chats with THR on the carpet for the 2024 Tony Awards and shares her experience bringing 'The Notebook' to the stage and her first-hand experiences with dementia.
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00:00Congratulations on your Tony nomination. Where were you when you found out about the nomination?
00:03I was in bed because I live in LA, so it was 5 30 in the morning. So I was trying to
00:11not care, you know, and sleep, but I shot out of bed at 5 30. Like,
00:16you know, I've been wondering, you know, you get you get anxious about it. So I was like asleep,
00:21and then was able to like share the moment with my husband. It was really special.
00:26Yeah. What was your experience in bringing the notebook to the stage? And what inspired you to
00:31do so? Well, um, I just love the story. There's a lot of dimension in my family. I've seen
00:38firsthand what it's like to lose someone to it. And I just an opportunity to kind of honor the
00:45truth of what's nasty about the disease, but also provide a little hope and uplift
00:49for people who are going through it, people who are experiencing it with their own family members.
00:54So I was just instantly drawn to it. And it's been really, really gratifying because it's such
01:01a universal story. And it's really, it's really special when you get to write one thing that
01:07appeals to so many people. That's always like, a really, really good feeling.
01:12And also the music Ingrid Michaelson's music lyrics is just incredible. What was your experience
01:17like working with her and and her kind of coming on board for this?
01:20Well, she started it. She's she I came on after her and she had already written about five songs.
01:24And that's what made me want to do it was her. I was kind of like, I think I want to do this. I
01:28think it'd be a beautiful musical. But then as soon as I heard her music, I knew I I had to be
01:32involved because it just like took my breath away. And we've become family, you know, it's been
01:37working on eight years. And now she's we're here together tonight. And she's my sister, you know,
01:43that and she will be forever. And I love that, like, it's almost the best part of this whole
01:48thing is like, finding her as a collaborator. And we will be making many more things together.
01:53And we're excited about that. Excited and also to nominations for Dorian and Marianne.
01:58How exciting is that? And also bringing together all of the Noah's and Ali's on stage?
02:03Yeah, it's I mean, Dorian, Dorian and Marianne being nominated is so special, because we always
02:09wanted to highlight the older characters with the show. So the fact that they got nominated
02:14just confirms that we did that, that they really, like, you know, are a big part of the show. And
02:22it's important to me that that older people see themselves in the show and feel honored and feel
02:28heard. So that's really cool. Yeah. And finally, what is your favorite production on or off Broadway
02:33right now outside of your own, of course? Oh, my gosh, I love the Outsiders. I loved it. I loved
02:40it. That the thing that everyone's talking about that rumble scene in Act Two is my new like,
02:44David Cromer, Our Town best theater moment ever moment. Yeah, so good.