Like many theatre fans, actor Sally Murphy knew of the musical The Baker's Wife, but she had never seen a production. "I knew the record because in college we were obsessed with it, obsessed," she tells Playbill. Now Murphy is playing put-upon wife Hortense in the first-ever New York production of Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein's musical The Baker's Wife, which notoriously closed in its out-of-town tryout back in 1976, never fulfilling its dreams of coming to Broadway.
But now the musical is getting a charming revival at Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company. The musical follows the many members of a provincial French town, whose lives are thrown into beautiful disarray when the baker Aimable (played by Scott Bakula) moves in with his beautiful, and much younger, wife Genevieve (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose). For DeBose, playing Genevieve is a new challenge for her (and not just because she gets to sing the beloved song "Meadowlark"), saying: "I never thought I would get the chance to play a role like this. She's an ingenue. Most people know me as Anita [from West Side Story], and she's not an ingenue!"
See DeBose and the cast of The Baker's Wife discuss their love—some newfound, some longstanding—for the musical in the video below.
READ: After 45 Years, Scott Bakula Is Grateful for a 2nd Chance With The Baker's Wife
Completing the company are Wendi Bergamini (New York, New York), Savannah Lee Birdsong (Little Shop of Horrors), Arnie Burton (Machinal), Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde), Alma Cuervo (On Your Feet!), Bill English (Days of Wine and Roses), Zachary Freier-Harrison, Samantha Gershman (Water for Elephants), Nathan Lee Graham (Mid-Century Modern), Tony nominee Judy Kuhn (Fun Home), Sally Murphy (The Minutes), Manu Narayan (Company), Mason Olshavsky, Kevin William Paul (The Outsiders), Will Roland (Dear Evan Hansen), and Hailey Thomas (Little Shop of Horrors).
Read reviews for the starry production, which was recently extended through December 21, by clicking here.
Gordon Greenberg directs this new production, presented by special arrangement with the Menier Chocolate Factory, Creative Partners Productions, and Aaron Glick. Greenberg also helmed a 2024 London revival at the Menier. The transfer continues a long relationship between the similarly situated companies, where John Doyle has frequently directed, also serving as artistic director of CSC.
Visit ClassicStage.org.
Ariana DeBose in The Baker's Wife
Judy Kuhn in The Baker's Wife
in The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose and Scott Bakula in The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose, Scott Bakula, and company of The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose, Scott Bakula, and company of The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose in The Baker's Wife
Kevin William Paul in The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose in The Baker's Wife
Scott Bakula and company of The Baker's Wife
Hailey Thomas, Samantha Gershman, Savannah Lee Birdsong, Nathan Lee Graham, and Kevin Del Aguila in The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose and Kevin William Paul in The Baker's Wife
Alma Cuervo, Samantha Gershman, Hailey Thomas, Sally Murphy, Savannah Lee Birdsong, and Judy Kuhn in The Baker's Wife
Alma Cuervo, Savannah Lee Birdsong, Judy Kuhn, Sally Murphy, Hailey Thomas, and Samantha Gershman in The Baker's Wife
Ariana DeBose and Scott Bakula in The Baker's Wife
