Old world charm permeates every moment of this bittersweet, wise and gently offbeat fable of life, love and bread by Joseph Stein ("Fiddler On The Roof") and Stephen Schwartz ("Godspell," "Pippin," "Children of Eden" and the films "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" and "The Prince Of Egypt").brbrThe bickering residents of a small Provencal town at last find peace and contentment in the heavenly bread of the newly arrived baker and his attractive young wife, but when she is lured away by the attentions of a handsome young gigolo, the middle-aged baker loses all zest for life and baking, throwing the community into chaos.
Now that Stephen Schwartz’s latest opus is out of the way—The Queen of Versailles opened Sunday night, to a decidedly mixed reaction—here comes a new production of his half-century-old flop, The Baker’s Wife. Consider the latter without the undertow of its notoriety (as delineated below). What we find at Classic Stage Company is a charming, small-scale affair perfectly suited to chamber-musical size, given a radiant sheen by a team of over-qualified performers who compensate for the patchy material. Considered without all its history, though—and without the ticket-selling potential given the involvement of the composer of Wicked (in league, incidentally, with the bookwriter of Fiddler on the Roof)—it is unlikely that anyone would bother to resuscitate the underbaked Baker’s Wife.
As delicious as warm, buttery brioche is the feeling of savoring a blue-ribbon musical. That’s the experience at Classic Stage Company’s beautifully performed, deeply emotional take on The Baker’s Wife featuring Ariana DeBose, Scott Bakula, and a pastry case of theatre aces. Call it “The Great CSC Baking Show.”
| 1976 | Broadway |
Closed on the road Broadway |
| 1980 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
| 1982 | Regional (US) |
West Coast Revival Regional (US) |
| 1983 | New York |
Workshop New York |
| 1985 | Off-Off-Broadway |
York Theatre Company Production Off-Off-Broadway |
| 1986 | Regional (US) |
West Coast Revival Regional (US) |
| 1989 | West End |
London Revival West End |
| 2005 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
| West End |
West End |
|
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
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