EXCLUSIVE: Scott Bakula will star opposite Ariana DeBose in this fall’s Off Broadway presentation of the storied musical The Baker’s Wife, producer Classic Stage Company announced today.
The rare revival of the Joseph Stein-Stephen Schwartz 1976 musical will begin previews at the CSC’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater on October 23, ahead of a November 11 opening. The limited engagement runs through December 14.
Bakula will star as baker Aimable Castagnet alongside the previously revealed (by Deadline) DeBose, who will play his wife Genevieve.
Perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated star turn on TV’s Quantum Leap and his four-season role on Star Trek: Enterprise, Bakula began his career on the stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1983, starring as Joe DiMaggio in Marilyn: An American Fable. In 1988, he earned a Tony nomination for his starring role in the Broadway musical Romance/Romance.
In 2024 Bakula returned to the New York stage for a limited run in the Off Broadway production of new musical The Connector, conceived and directed by Daisy Prince with music and lyrics by Tony winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade) and a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman. He also starred with his wife Chelsea Field in the Peterborough Players production of Man of La Mancha, where he played Don Quixote. He then went on to star in the Ford Theater’s production of Mr. Lincoln.
Bakula made his UK stage debut in the 2011 world premiere of Terrible Advice by Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13) and directed by Frank Oz, at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. Bakula also appeared at the Hollywood Bowl starring as Nathan Detroit in a limited run of the musical Guys and Dolls. Other stage credits include productions at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater, the Geffen Playhouse, UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, and Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. Bakula’s singing talents have also been showcased in performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Honors, and at the Hollywood Bowl.
The Baker’s Wife synopsis: “In a quiet French village, a baker and his wife bring fresh bread…and fresh gossip. But when temptation stirs and hearts wander, the whole town gets caught up in a swirl of romance, mischief, and melody. The Baker’s Wife brings Stephen Schwartz’s soaring score, including the iconic “Meadowlark,” to life in its first major New York appearance. Sweet, surprising, and full of heart, this long-awaited production celebrates love in all its perfectly imperfect recipes.”
The musical, which open’s CSC’s 2025-2026 season, features a book by Tony Award winner Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof), music & lyrics by Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, The Queen of Versailles), based on the 1938 film La Femme du Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono. Gordon Greenberg (The Heart of Rock and Roll) directs.
The musical originally toured the United States for six months in 1976, a legendarily troubled production, retooled constantly, that has long since entered stage lore. Patti LuPone played Geneviève, opposite Topol, who played the baker). The production was closed by the authors and producer David Merrick before reaching Broadway, and has intrigued theater buffs ever since.
The Baker’s Wife is presented by special arrangement with the Menier Chocolate Factory (David Babani, Artistic Director), Creative Partners Productions, and Aaron Glick.
