Long before The Baker's Wife was a musical, it was a 1938 French film, written and directed by Marcel Pagnol and known as La femme du boulanger in its home country. That film, in turn, was loosely inspired by Jean Giono's semi-autobiographical 1932 novel Blue Boy (or Jean le Bleu).

Both Pagnol and Giono are credited with the source material for The Baker's Wife musical, which has an adapted script by Joseph Stein and a score by Schwartz.

The Baker's Wife was first produced as a six-month U.S. tour in 1976, closing out with Paul Sorvino and Patti LuPone in the starring roles. Though its songs developed a cult following thanks to a cast album, and the musical went on to be staged across the U.S. and U.K., it never had a full-fledged production on or off Broadway as originally planned — until now. (In 2015, there was a small Off-Off-Broadway staging in Brooklyn that marked the musical's professional NYC debut.)

The Off-Broadway revival at Classic Stage Company, directed by Gordon Greenberg, is itself 20 years in the making: Greenberg first staged the show to acclaim in 2005 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey and revisited it at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in 2024.

"Being part of its reinvention has been one of the great honors and joys of my life," said Greenberg, who's loved Schwartz's score for The Baker's Wife "as long as [he's] been aware of musical theatre." His production maintains all the show's famous songs, like "Meadowlark" and "Where Is the Warmth?"

The central duo of The Baker's Wife may be Hollywood stars, but they each have stage backgrounds. "The theatre is my first love," said Bakula, who grew up performing in St. Louis and lived in NYC for 10 years. It was a theatre gig that first brought him to L.A., opening the door to his TV and film career.

"I thought, 'When I get a break [from Hollywood], I want to go back to the theatre,' and in the last two years, I've had a really exciting and inexplicable run of great theatre," said Bakula. In 2024, he starred in The Connector off Broadway after 35 years away from the NYC stage.

Hamilton alum DeBose has only been away for seven years, since starring in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway in 2018. Her own journey to silver screen stardom also has a theatre connection, as she won her Oscar for playing Anita in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story movie musical.

"It just seemed like the perfect group of people and the perfect time to come back to my roots," DeBose said of joining The Baker's Wife.

From the second audiences arrive at Classic Stage Company, Greenberg wants them to feel like they've stepped into a French village square "on a lazy summer afternoon." There's pre-show action happening as audiences enter the intimate venue, with seats on three sides of the stage, mere feet from the actors.

"You don't have a choice but to come in and be immersed in the world of this small, provincial town," DeBose enthused.

"They are welcome to come on stage before the show starts. It's a square full of music and life and white and red wine," Gordon echoed. "Particularly if you're a Manhattanite moving quickly, you get into this village and you slow down.

"When the story starts, it causes a big ripple," the director continued. "That's ultimately what the show is about: that when you live somewhere where nothing ever happens, a small change can be big. It can even change your life."

Multiple cast members said the town is a character in its own right. "[The show is about] how this town learns to come together after being fractured," said actor Arnie Burton, who plays Teacher.

Using real bread instead of props is yet another way to immerse audiences in The Baker's Wife. "In a perfect world [...] we'd pump the smell of bread out into the audience every night," Bakula joked. But in such a small venue, you might be able to smell it anyway. The actors are lucky enough to get to eat it — "and it's delicious," gushed actress Savannah Lee Birdsong, who plays Simone.

If you find yourself hungry in the theatre, The Baker's Wife cast dished on their favorite NYC bakeries you can visit pre- or post-show.

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Photo credit: Ariana DeBose in rehearsal for The Baker's Wife. (Photo by Allison Stock)