They didn’t realize they’d get that wet. During their put-in rehearsal for The Notebook, where they got to act on the set of the show for the first time, actors Anna Zavelson and Benji Santiago are supposed to splash each other in a pool, located just downstage on the lip of the stage. But during one particularly rambunctious moment, they found themselves drenched. Says Santiago, while his co-star laughs beside him, “We had never worked with the water before, and we splash each other a lot. And so we didn't really have a gauge of how much water is too much water. And I think we certainly found that out.”
These young performers have reined in the splashing but not the excitement they’re both feeling at making their Broadway debuts in The Notebook on Broadway—in the roles of Younger Noah and Younger Allie (the show closes December 15). Just hours before they took the Schoenfeld Theatre stage for the first time October 8, they dropped by Playbill to sing the love duet "Carry You Home" from the show. It's a bit of a mad schedule but Zavelson doesn't mind as she sips on iced coffee: "I just want to be busy so I don't have to sit and think about everything that's gonna go down tonight."
The two are one of three couples who play Allie and Noah throughout their lives, from idealistic teens who are driven apart by class differences to coming back together in adulthood to staying together in old age.
For Zavelson, it’s been comforting to have a partner-in-performance who’s going through the same roller coaster of emotions as her—both actors are taking breaks from college to do The Notebook, they’re making their Broadway debuts, and they’re discovering their characters at the same time. The two did not hesitate when Playbill Photo Editor Heather Gershonowitz asked Zavelson to hop on Santiago's back, and they took a selfie together before leaving for the theatre.
“I feel really lucky to have a very generous scene partner and an incredible friend,” says Zavelson. “We can empathize about all of the nerves and all the craziness, definitely.”
Adds Santiago, without any hesitation: “I think we see eye-to-eye on, like, everything. Even from the first day, I felt so fortunate going into it with Anna, as opposed to either of us going into it alone—just to have each other and to work and to play.”
Both performers have been singing since they were very young (Zavelson cites Phantom of the Opera as her artistic starting point while Santiago's was the TV show Glee). But though they’re both just starting their careers, they come into The Notebook with an impressive resume—Zavelson played Clara in The Light at the Piazza at New York City Center last year, while Santiago is fresh from starring as Usnavi for In the Heights at the Muny in Missouri. And notably, the two are different ethnicities from the other actors who are playing Allie and Noah in the show—Santiago is Puerto Rican while Zavelson is Japanese American and Jewish. To them, it’s a way of showcasing the universality of The Notebook's love story.
“Being a Hispanic man in this role makes some of those lines mean something a little different—as far as feeling ‘other’ in this 1967 Northeastern environment,” admits Santiago. But at the same time, “these characters sort of transcend race…I do feel so fortunate to be part of something bigger than myself, in stepping into these roles. The fact that we are who we are and we are on this stage, what it means for our people, it’s something that I take huge pride in.”
Adds Zavelson: “It's just such a beautiful love story, and the fact that we get to step into a world where the characters just feel very much like us…I feel very seen in the way that the story is portrayed. It feels really free, and I'm really excited to get to do it now."
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
Benji Santiago and Anna Zavelson
