Anyone familiar with Nicholas Sparks’s enduring love story, THE NOTEBOOK, knows it centers around Noah and Allie. Their very real ups-and-downs, especially as dementia and Alzheimer’s crowd the relationship, take audiences on sweeping highs and crushing lows.  

The Broadway adaptation introduces us to a new character, one that brings a few laughs and levity to the dramatic push-and-pull of Noah and Allie’s circumstances. It’s Johnny, a newly minted physical therapist, who works with “Older Noah” to rehab a knee injury. 

For this tour, Coastal Carolina University grad Connor Richardson plays Johnny. THE NOTEBOOK was his first audition after graduation in 2025. He won the role, and left CCU in Conway, SC, for big time Broadway national tour rehearsals.  

“I’m beyond excited,” Connor says. “This has been the best year of my life. Telling this story across the country has been beyond a dream come true. The majority of my scenes are with Older Noah. You find that these two characters, even though they come from different worlds and different generations, have a lot in common. There’s a lot of comedy in there, but Johnny is also able to adapt when things get weighty.”  

Connor credits his time in South Carolina at CCU with preparing him to take on an intimidating project like THE NOTEBOOK. 

“Oh, man. I could talk for hours about how much Coastal means to me,” he says. “It truly shaped who I am not only as an artist but who I am as an individual. With Coastal, they invest in the individual and in what we wanted to do with our artistry. We were able to follow our individual passions.”  

With dual passions in acting and music, going for a Broadway show seemed logical. So even though THE NOTEBOOK took him out of South Carolina, it’s also bringing him back when it plays here June 9-14. 

“South Carolina means so much to me, and I can’t wait to bring this show to Greenville,” he says. 

Connor and THE NOTEBOOK Cast Come to Greenville 

 

Connor grew up in Nashville, TN, so his drives home from college always took him through Swamp Rabbit territory. “Every time I drove through Greenville, I thought, ‘I kind of want to spend some time here.’ I love it. This is a beautiful town. I’ll probably get some recommendations from my roommate, who is from Spartanburg, about what I should do when I’m there. I’m so excited, it’s going to be a great time.” Connor and his castmates have a tradition of going golfing and rock climbing on every stop, and they’re looking forward to continuing the tradition here. More importantly, for Connor, is opening night at Peace Concert Hall.  

“I am excited to bring this show to a state and a community that means so much to me. They [the tour] asked us to write down our two “hometown stops”--anything that we’d consider a hometown. I put Memphis because we don’t go to Nashville on the tour, and I put Greenville,” he says.  

“I lived in South Carolina for four years and like love everybody I met at Coastal. I love the state so much, and I’m so excited [to perform in Greenville]. My professors are going to come out, and my friends who are still in Myrtle Beach are going to come out,” he says. “It will be a very big reunion, and I’m looking forward to it.” 

“It’s a real joy to do this every night and go on this journey,” Connor says. “I help the audience enter the story. Johnny is right there with the audience—it's my first day at this nursing home. I don’t know Noah or Allie at all and figure it out along the way with the audience.”  

 

Because THE NOTEBOOK delves so intently into love across a lifespan and all that entails, the multi-generational cast has formed a tight-knit group. “We work so closely with each other. Getting to tell this particular story every night has bonded us in a way I’ve never experienced before. There are people in this cast who have been performing for 50 years, and they’re also saying they’ve never experienced anything like this before. I feel like this show is uniquely personal to everybody who sees it.” 

THE NOTEBOOK’s run in Greenville will be unique for sure. We’re eager to welcome Connor Richardson and the cast and crew of this show to the Peace Concert Hall. Get your tickets now, THE NOTEBOOK runs June 9-14.