'The Baker's Wife' Off-Broadway review — Ariana DeBose and Scott Bakula earn a chef's kiss

Read our review of The Baker's Wife off Broadway, a rare New York revival of Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein's 1976 musical at Classic Stage Company.

Summary

• The Baker's Wife is set in a small French village rocked by the arrival of a baker and his wife
• The ensemble musical features a strong cast led by Ariana DeBose and Scott Bakula
• Audiences praised the show's score and semi-immersive set
• The show is recommended for fans of composer Stephen Schwartz (who also co-wrote Wicked) and the actors' onscreen careers

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.”

Written by Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics) and Joseph Stein (book), and based on the 1938 French film La Femme du Boulanger, the show premiered in 1976 in Los Angeles but closed before reaching Broadway. But between timing and fine-tuning, this intimate work’s window into marriage, forgiveness, and love hits the spot off Broadway a half-century later.

Director Gordon Greenberg’s long relationship with the show reaches back to a 2005 New Jersey run and a 2024 one at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. Like a fable, the musical is built around a seemingly simple narrative: a moral test and love lost and regained.

Kind-hearted baker Aimable (Bakula) arrives in 1935 in a small French village where the carb-deprived residents rejoice. But when his restless young bride Geneviève (DeBose) runs off with Dominique (Kevin William Paul), a hunk her own age, heartsick and devastated Aimable can’t bake.

Here’s the twist: the triangle impacts everyone in the town square, from preachers and teachers to other spouses and spinsters. The notion that neighbors are connected in complex ways is a thoughtful one, and it couldn’t be more timely in our divisive times. Schwartz’s lovely score — by turns folksy (cue the accordion) and ardent — speaks plainly to those themes.

In the stacked supporting cast playing villagers, Judy Kuhn and Sally Murphy shine bright as the respective long-suffering spouses of feuding locals portrayed by Robert Cuccioli and Manu Narayan. The men are habitually condescending to their wives — and one of them will sorely regret that.

Naturally, this soufflé of a musical rises and falls on its two leads. Bakula (Quantum Leap, The Connector) oozes rumpled charm as the baker. Would anyone really leave this man? That’s worth asking. In the title role, famously played in ’76 by Patti LuPone, there’s no question that West Side Story Oscar winner DeBose taps all her triple-threat talents.

Aimable’s thoughts about Geneviève and her lover become a stirring dance. DeBose transforms her character’s solos — “Gifts of Love,” about her older husband; “Where Is the Warmth,” about her young lover; and “Meadowlark,” the famous ballad of hard choices — into heartstoppers. They’re all the better because, like the show itself, they’re bittersweet.

The Baker’s Wife summary

Life in a small French village turns upside down when the local baker’s younger wife runs away with a handsome townie. When she returns, love and forgiveness restore the village’s spirit, but there are also costs.

Since its mid-’70s premiere, the musical has gained a devoted following for its heartfelt score and themes of love and redemption. Following small-scale NYC runs with the York Theatre in 2007, Gallery Players in 2015, and J2 Spotlight in 2022, Classic Stage Company and the Menier Chocolate Factory's production is described by CSC as The Baker’s Wife's “first major New York appearance.”

What to expect at The Baker’s Wife

As you settle into your seat at CSC, the show is already in motion. Men on stage trade gossip over a lively game of boules, which you might be asked to join. A woman at a cafe table puffs nervously on a cigarette. You’re drawn into the world of the play before a note is sung or a line of dialogue is spoken.

The immersive nature of Greenberg's production is deftly supported by scenic designer Jason Sherwood’s wonderful set. The blurred boundary between actors and audience is fitting for a story that, at its heart, is about connection. Catherine Zuber’s period costumes and Bradley King’s lighting add more invaluable textures.

What audiences are saying about The Baker’s Wife

As of writing, The Baker’s Wife had an 89% audience approval rating on Show-Score, an aggregating site for theatre reviews.

• “Charming production with an absolutely stellar cast. This 50-year-old Stephen Schwartz work feels almost Disney/Menken like. Several of the songs are wonderful but the book leans too heavily on the wife as ball and chain trope.” - Show-Score user Erin_F_3
• “A French-flavored tale of romantic temptation, with a wonderful cast, and Ariana gets to dance and get emotional. A great all-surrounding set.” - Show-Score user aka
• “Wonderful. The kind of heartfelt musical they don’t write anymore.” - Show-Score user RickD
• “Good in general, but it doesn’t excite. Material is dated, esp. the misogynistic jokes. The 'hot man' is not believable when singing about love, maybe fits this story, but would be far more interesting if he’s charismatic.” - Show-Score user 2211
• “The show is gorgeous to look at, certainly the best use of the space I’ve ever seen at CSC in over 50 years of going there.” - Show-Score user Richard M

Read more audience reviews of The Baker’s Wife on Show-Score.

Who should see The Baker’s Wife

• Stephen Schwartz fans who love his stage and film work (Wicked, Godspell) will appreciate this rarely heard score, which he wrote in his late 20s.
• Ariana DeBose fans who’ve seen her in Hamilton as the fatal Bullet and in her Oscar-winning supporting role as Anita in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story will love her star turn here.
• Scott Bakula fans who’ve enjoyed his work on TV in Quantum Leap will enjoy seeing him leap back to his stage roots.
• Cabaret and concert fans who love “Meadowlark” — Patti LuPone and Betty Buckley sing famous versions — will appreciate the song in context in the show.

Learn more about The Baker’s Wife off Broadway

Dollars to donuts, The Baker’s Wife is a welcome highlight of the theatre season, staged and performed to a veritable chef’s kiss.

Learn more and get The Baker’s Wife tickets on New York Theatre Guide. The Baker’s Wife is at Classic Stage Company through December 21.

Photo credit: The Baker's Wife off Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)