The Baker’s Wife – 15 November 2025

Classic Stage Company is bringing to life one of Stephen Schwartz’s lesser-performed musicals, The Baker’s Wife. Set in a small town some time ago, this ensemble piece shows a village’s over commitment to their baker due to their own selfish cravings for fresh, warm bread. The story begins with the town, led by Denise (Judy Kuhn), eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new baker Aimable Castagnet (Scott Bakula) after their previous baker died suddenly. When the baker and his young, attractive wife Genevieve (Ariana DeBose) arrive, everyone extols the beauty of Genevieve and she starts to attract seemingly unwanted attention, particularly from Dominique  (Kevin William Paul). Genevieve finds herself unable to resist her physical attraction to Dominique, and runs away to be with him just before the end of the first act, leaving the baker distraught and unable to bake. For desperate need for bread, the townspeople band together to look for the baker’s wife and bring her back to him so that he will fire up the oven and nobody will want for bread.

Though the titular character is the baker’s wife, I had the most fun enjoying ensemble numbers with a particular eye towards the different couples and their unique approaches to growing old together. Denise and Claude (Robert Cuccioli) were constantly making jokes about wanting to be rid of one another, yet their love was unmistakably strong and it was clear that they were playing. Barnaby (Manu Narayan) was constantly silencing his wife Hortense (Sally Murphy), who is emboldened by the baker’s wife’s departure to finally leave him and seek what she deserves.  The Marquis (Nathan Lee Graham) has the love of a harem of “nieces” and Antoine (Kevin Del Aguila) cares more for his liquor than any of these couples care for their lovers. Despite being a small town full of gossip, everybody accepts each other. Even the priest (Will Roland) is willing to revise all of scripture down to a single message of God’s forgiveness when it comes down to making sure the town has bread. The story is comedic within its context, but Judy Kuhn infuses Denise with so much nuance that the story can almost be taken seriously. It’s easy to understand why each character feels such deeply high stakes around the baker doing his job.

One of the key criticisms I have heard of this show regards archaic gender norms. I’d like to encourage people to enjoy this show within its setting—a quaint, fairly isolated town with only one printed copy of the newspaper. If you look within this world and really take in the setting, the story is a little bit progressive. They forgive the adulteress. They forge new connections with the neighbors they look at every day. They rekindle the love they once had for their spouses. They accept people for who they are. They make scathing comments about how the women survive without an instruction manual. It’s not the gender parity of 2025—it was written in 1976, nearly 50 years ago. Within its context, it is quaint, charming, and beautiful.

The writing (Joseph Stein, Stephen Schwartz) is well thought out, the orchestrations (David Cullen) are magical, and the scenic design (Jason Sherwood) and lighting (Bradley King) design push the limits of the Lynn F. Angelson Theater far beyond what is usually done here. The choreography (Stephanie Klemons) is the right amount of realistic and stylized, and there is a particularly mesmerizing sequence in which the baker watches his wife dance just out of reach as he torments himself with the knowledge that she has left him. The costume design (Catherine Zuber) is exuberant and keeps us grounded in the world of the show, and Jason Crystal’s sound design is crystal clear—at no point did I struggle to hear the words over the band. Everything was properly and delightfully mixed.

The Baker’s Wife transports the audience to a quaint French village, and challenges us to think about what it would really be like to live a life where the most important things are bread and not annoying the neighbors. It’s a lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of New York City, and a performance that is a good deal of fun.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Boneau/Bryan-Brown.