‘The Baker’s Wife’: About Love and Understanding

This French tale about love, fidelity, and bread is being performed off-Broadway.

Geneviève Castagnet (Ariana DeBose) with her husband, Aimable Castagnet (Scott Bakula), and the cast of "The Baker's Wife." Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

NEW YORK—A lyric in the song “Big Yellow Taxi” says, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” This truism is explored in the 1976 musical “The Baker’s Wife.”

The show is based on the 1938 French film “La Femme du Boulanger.” With a book by Joseph Stein, and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, this cult favorite among theater enthusiasts makes its long-overdue New York debut at Classic Stage Company.

Fresh Bread Comes to Town

In 1935 France, residents of a tiny rural village have been without a baker for weeks, thus deprived of their beloved morning staples:  fresh bread and pastries. They now anxiously await the arrival of Aimable Castagnet (Scott Bakula), who will take over the job. A soft-spoken fellow, Aimable arrives with his beautiful wife, Geneviève (Ariana DeBose), a woman young enough to be his daughter. In fact, she’s initially mistaken for such. But Aimable quickly proves his worth as a baker, and any gossip about the age difference between him and his wife is quickly forgotten.