Back in 2004, a certain kind of movie fan got to swoon over “The Notebook,” director Nick Cassavetes’s sentimental but charming adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s novel that follows a couple from nearly star-crossed young love to fragile old age. It was the tale of a rich girl and the poor boy who defied her mother’s snobbery to win her heart, and it concluded — spoiler alert — with the now elderly woman and man, respectively suffering from dementia and a bad heart, dying in each other’s arms.

The movie proved a showcase for some very fine actors, and so does a new musical based on Mr. Sparks’s bestseller — which, frankly, is the best thing that can be said about the “The Notebook: The Musical.” I’ll emphasize my subjectivity here: While I’m frequently driven to tears by shows, books, and films, I recoil on a similarly visceral level from anything that seems too contrived to tug at my heartstrings or too obvious in that attempt.