Bekah Brunstetter, the cowriter of the Broadway musical “The Notebook,” shares her favorite New York City spots, including her favorite neighborhood, theater district watering hole, and Broadway show. She also shares insider tips for enjoying a Broadway show and her favorite theaters around the world.
Her favorite neighborhood is the West Village, where she first moved to NYC for grad school and lived in a tiny apartment on Christopher and Bleecker. She still loves the neighborhood and feels it’s quintessential New York.
Her favorite theater district watering hole is the Vanguard Wine Bar in midtown. She finds it to be rarely crowded, always welcoming, dim but inviting, and always with a Pinot Noir that she likes. They also have great sandwiches and light bites.
Her favorite Broadway show right now is “The Outsiders,” which she feels particularly excited to see open and thrive since it shares a block with “The Notebook.” She also can’t wait to see “Water for Elephants” and “Suffs.” Her co-directors have other projects: Michael [Greif] is directing “Hell’s Kitchen,” and Schele [Williams] is directing “The Wiz!”
Her insider tip for enjoying a Broadway show is to use shows as opportunities to spend time with family and close friends who she doesn’t get to see as much since she’s moved out West. She’s started a tradition with her sister-in-law to see a show or three together every time she’s in town. Seeing a show with someone you love somehow makes you even more present for the show, and the show becomes a piece of your history with the person.
Her favorite theaters around the world are the theaters at her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill, in her home state of North Carolina. The Drama department there is incredible, and they’re lucky to have Playmaker’s Rep in residence, so they have the Paul Green Theater and the Kenan, which are beautiful spaces. This is where she wrote and staged her first plays her freshman year of college. Her most favorite on campus is Old Playmakers. It was built in 1850, and somehow, when she was in college, they let her put plays on there. It’s gorgeous, sort of falling apart, and definitely haunted.
