Gallery Players to Present THE BAKER'S WIFE, Opening 3/7

Gallery Players continues its 48th season with a production of the musical, The Baker's Wife. Based on the film La Femme de Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono, The Baker's Wife features music and lyrics byStephen Schwartz (Wicked) and a book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler of the Roof). A modern day fable of love that has remained a cult favorite, the musical features the songs "Meadowlark" and "Proud Lady," amongst the many other hidden treasures in this musical. This rarely produced musical will warm the hearts of romantics and cynics alike because this is story is not about true love but about the truth in love and how it shapes us. Directed by Barrie Gelles, The Baker's Wife will open on Saturday, March 7th at 8pm.

Set in a rural village of Provence, France in 1935, the musical is truly an ensemble piece filled with intriguing characters. The musical focuses in on the marriage of the newly arrived baker, Aimable Castignet (Charlie Owens) and his very young wife, Genvieve (Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld). When Dominique (Jesse Manocherian) , a handsome man with a penchant for passion and romance seduces Genevieve, the entire town ends up in crisis. Through the lens of the baker's marriage, each of the villagers reconsiders their own marriage, partnerships, feuds, and lives hoping to live happier ever after.

The Baker's Wife opens Saturday evening, March 7th , and runs through Sunday, March 29th , 2015. Performances will be held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and Sunday afternoons at 3:00 pm. There will be a Saturday 2:00 pm performance on March 21st and March 28th.

Tickets are $18 for Adults and $15 for senior citizens, students, and children 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased 24/7 online atwww.galleryplayers.com or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101 (phone hours 9-9 weekdays, 10-6 weekends). Remaining tickets can be purchased at the door 10 minutes prior to curtain, cash only.

Cast: John Cardenas, Eddie Carroll, Samantha Cooper, Eyakeno Ekpo, Paula Galloway, Ashley Harris, Joe Joyce*, Anthony Michael Lopez, Jesse Manocherian*, Erin Maya, Angelo McDonough, Charlie Owens*, Joshua Patterson, Adrian Rifat, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld*, Jim Roumeles, Adena Walker, Nikki Yarnell

* Members Actor's Equity

Creative Team for The Baker's Wife: Producer, Justine McLaughlin, Director, Barrie Gelles, Music Director , Jonathon Lynch, Choreographer/Assistant Director, Valerie Wright, Set Designer, Ryan Howell, Lighting Designer, Joe Thompson, Costume Designer, Joey Haws, Props Designer, Sara Slagle, Sound Designer, Jacob Subotnick, Production Stage Manager, James Yates, Associate Producer, Hilary Kolman and Assistant Stage Manager, Maria Alejandra Marrero.

Stephen Schwartz (Music and Lyrics) has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife,Working (which he also adapted and directed), Personals, Rags, and Children of Eden. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for Disney animated features Pocohontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He has released two CDs of new songs entitled Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory.
Mr. Schwartz's most recent musical, Wicked, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway and in several other productions around the United States and the world. In 2008, Wicked reached its 1900th performance on Broadway, making Mr. Schwartz the only songwriter in Broadway history ever to have three shows run more than 1900 performances. A book about his career,"Defying Gravity", has recently been released by Applause Books. Under the auspices of the ASCAP Foundation, he runs musical theatre workshops in New York and Los Angeles, and serves on the ASCAP board; he is also currently the President of the Dramatists' Guild.

Joseph Stein (Book) started his career in television and was one of the noted group of writers on Your Show of Shows and The Sid Caesar Show. His first work for the theatre was as co-author of Plain And Fancy, the hit musical about the adventures of a pair of sophisticated New Yorkers living among the Amish in Pennsylvania. His next show was Mr. Wonderful, starring Sammy Davis, Jr. He created the libretto for the Bock and Harnick musical The Body Beautiful. His next librettos were for Take Me Along, based on Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness, and Juno, with score by Marc. Blitzstein. He then wrote the adaptation for the hit stage comedy Enter Laughing. Fiddler on the Roof was his next show, for which he won the Tony as well as the Drama Critics' Circle Award. He was also nominated for a Tony for his next show, Zorba, with score by Kander and Ebb. His other productions include Kings of Hearts, Irene,Rags (for which he was nominated for a Tony), and The Baker's Wife, which was produced in London and was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award. Mr. Stein is also the author of the screenplays for Enter Laughing and Fiddler on the Roof.