Review: Beautifully Staged BAKER'S WIFE at Actors Co-op

The Baker's Wife/book by Joseph Stein/music & lyrics by Stephen Schwartz/directed by Richard Israel/Actors Co-op/David Schall Theatre/through October 25

One of Stephen Schwartz's failures The Baker's Wife, which toured extensively across the US in 1976 but never made it to Broadway, had a cast recording with Patti LuPone, Paul Sorvino and Teri Ralston and has had an occasional revival including ones in the UK and Australia. Why did it bomb and never reach New York? It's a simple, sweet show with a lovely message about human connection and a few pretty ballads, especially the hit "Meadowlark", but there's a spark missing, nothing really exciting to get people into the seats; it's most definitely not commercial enough for Broadway. Based on the 1938 French film La Femme du Boulanger, that may be the main reason that the show is rarely performed. Now onstage at Actors Co-op, Baker's Wife is mounted scrumptiously with terrific direction from Richard Israel and a superlatively cast ensemble.

Never having seen the show before, I was intrigued and full of wonder. It reminded me somewhat of The Most Happy Fella. Older man gets young girl for a wife - young enough to be his daughter. In spite of her efforts to stay loyal, she falls for a slick, handsome younger man and runs off with him, leaving her devoted husband alone and miserable...and the townsfolk to gossip and brand him a cuckold. If we could roll all the townsfolk up together into one large ball. what we would get would be a striking secondary character in the story. They constantly bicker and cater more to their own selfish wants and needs than to each other. Instead of appreciating differences, and what is fresh and new, they remain the same, unchanged...until... Genevieve (Chelle Denton) runs off with Dominique (Nick Echols). To keep the baker Aimable (Greg Baldwin) happy, working and supplying them with bread, they hatch a plan to hunt down the pair, with the hope that Genevieve will return to Aimable. In the meantime, Hortense (Tracey Bunka), the butcher's wife, leaves her husband Barnaby (Michael Worden) because he has been neglectful of her. Shortly before, she stood up to him verbally, and this is the first solid indication that a genuine transformation is about to occur amongst the townsfolk.

Among the neighbors are a priest, M. le Cure (Tim Hodgin), M. le Marquis (Christopher Maikish - role shaed with Stephen Van Dorn), for whom Dominique worked as a chauffeur and errand boy, a teacher M. Martine (Kelly Brighton), and the cafe owner (Jeffrey Markle) and his wife Denise (Treva Tegtmeier). The cafe is the central meeting place for the entire town. There are three 'nieces' - three girls that the Marquis keeps on the side for play, so merrymaking abounds in spite of M. le Cure's religious protestations. Once they set their minds, however, to finding Genevieve and bringing her back, there is a switch in priorities, a positive move in doing something caring and supportive. Little Pom Pom, the baker's cat, disappears around the same time as Genevieve, and they both return around the same time, adding a little symbolism to the proceedings.

Simplicity dominates the plot, to be sure, as book writer Joseph Stein does very little to give us any background about Dominique or to show us how his relationship with Genevieve falls apart.

There are no scenes between them after they run away, except for the one where Genevieve protests in song "Where Is the Warmth?" It seems to indicate that physical attraction leads nowhere, but there is no substantial argument to show otherwise. There is one memory for Genevieve early on as she mentions another lover and how that relationship failed, but again no exploration of her emotional frailty. It's all superficial, with a neat, happy ending, as in a fairytale.

Maybe Schwartz prefers the fairytale, as he was a Hans Christian Anderson fan and later did compose a whole show My Fairytale, which was actually quite lovely. In spite of the shortcomings of Stein's book for Baker's Wife, there are the beautiful ballads "Chanson", which feeds the message and sets the play in motion, and "Gifts of Love", as well as "Where Is the Warmth?" and the lilting "Meadowlark", whose precious storyline every female cabaret singer has fallen hopelessly in love with over the years. On the comedic lighter side of the coin, there are a couple of very amusing numbers for the men "The World's Luckiest Man", pointing to the malice of female deception and then "Feminine Companionship" illustrating the joy of man's illicit relations.

Under Richard Israel's meticulous direction, the cast is wonderful. Baldwin is sheer delight as Aimable, full of healthy spirit and good solid intentions for his life with Genevieve. Denton as Genevieve keeps an appropriate air of mystery about the woman and sings beautifully. All the male townsfolk are deliciously droll, capturing the French attitude almost to the letter. Standouts among the women are Bunka as the sad Hortense and Tegtmeier as Denise who sincerely and gently sets the tone of the whole show with the opening "Chanson".

Rich Rose's scenic design is simple, yet alluring as are Wendell C. Carmichael's 1930s period costumes.

Go see The Baker's Wife! It's a lovely production with sturdy direction and dedicated performances. Another salute to Actors Co-op who seem to be able to stage a musical with ease and panache in spite of the number of actors onstage. Remember last year's stunning Edwin Drood? Well, here there are 18 cast members. In spite of the musical's flaws, there are on display dependable good old-fashioned morals including human compromise, all of which will make you leave the theatre warm and hopeful,

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