Carla Guevara-Laforteza on The Notebook: The Musical, Motherhood, and Katseye’s Sophia’s Hiatus

As she prepares for the musical’s premiere, the actress reflects on raising three kids and supporting her daughter as she takes time away from the global girl group.

In Theatre Group Asia’s international English premiere of The Notebook: The Musical, Carla Guevara-Laforteza finds herself playing a role that hits close to home. “It’s one of my favorite movies,” she says. “I torture myself twice a year if I really want a good cry.”

A multi-awarded Filipino musical theater actress, singer, and television performer, Guevara-Laforteza has been in many musicals, including Miss Saigon, Avenue Q, Saturday Night Fever, Rak of Aegis, and Ang Huling El Bimbo. But out of all the shows she’s been part of, she says playing the dual role of Allie’s mom/nurse in The Notebook feels personal for several reasons, as she navigates motherhood.

“Allie’s story is also my life story,” she says. “I rebeled to be with my husband. Twenty-five years later, we have three children.” She adds that back then, when her parents disapproved of her relationship with her now-husband, she didn’t understand. “It’s like, gosh, who cares? I’m a teenager, I’m gonna explore life, I’m gonna fall in love!” she says. Now, as her own children are finding their own path, she understands her parents’ perspective, that it comes from a place of love and care.

Of her three children, the most well-known is her middle child and only daughter, Sophia Laforteza, who is the leader of the global girl group Katseye. Before debuting in the group, Sophia seemed to be following her mother’s footsteps in theater, but eventually found her own way. “I realized that my children, they need to find their own destiny,” she says.

At present, Sophia is on hiatus, but Guevara-Laforteza says her daughter is doing well. “She goes to Disneyland every day; she’s baking, she’s painting. She’s literally doing everything to get mentally well,” she says.

She expresses her commitment to always being supportive of her children: “I’ll be here to catch you when you fall. Anytime you can come home, anytime you can call me, but I want you to find your own happiness.”

On stage, she is just as devoted to her fictional daughters. In The Notebook, she plays the mother to the three different versions of Allie, played by Sheena Belarmino, Morissette, and Celeste Legaspi. Before the production, Guevara-Laforteza had already worked with Belarmino in One More Chance, The Musical, and had witnessed Morissette’s early theater days and rise as “Asia’s Phoenix.” She also gushes about working with Legaspi, calling her “the legend.” “They’re all such generous actors, and I love that I get to learn from them,” she says.

On director Nicholas Polonio, she says, “Can he move to the Philippines and direct all of our shows?” Polonio is a Filipino American theater director based in New York City who has directed Mary Stuart and The Police, and for Guevara-Laforteza, his directing style is unlike anything that she’s experienced before. “I’ve worked with many directors, and they all have their greatness within them,” she says. “He’s so collaborative; he’s so generous and supportive in our decisions as actors about our acting choices.”

As the gala night nears, Guevara-Laforteza shares what she wants audiences to feel. “I want them to come out laughing, crying, but crying with happiness and full of love. This is a love story. It’s not a tragic story.”

Theatre Group Asia’s The Notebook: The Musical runs from September 3 to 20, 2026, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. For tickets, visit TicketWorld’s official website.

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