Where the townsfolk await their new baker
BY JENNY SEJANSKY
DeLand High School’s theater and choral programs are combining their talents once again.
On April 19-21, Hill Street Theatre is proud to present The Baker’s Wife, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Wicked) and a libretto by Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof, Rags) in the DeLand High School Auditorium.
Tickets are available at the door and cost $10 for adults and $5 for students with IDs. All shows begin at 7 p.m.
The show is based on the 1938 French film by the same title. The idea to adapt this story into a musical for the stage came about in 1976. It was workshopped around the United States and finally, in 1989, got its first full production on London’s West End.
Although the show never made it to Broadway, it became a popular piece, earning a cult following around the world.
After its initial West End run, productions were mounted in India (1997) and Papermill Playhouse New Jersey (2005). The most recent show was back in the West End in 2017.
Set in 1935 France, the story is about a small town in the Provence region that is in turmoil over the death of their baker. They have not had fresh bread in weeks, and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new baker.
The townspeople have lost control of their emotions and are constantly at each other’s throats over the lack of bread and other bakery treats.
Everyone meets in the town’s cafe, run by Claude (Samule Lopez) and his wife, Denise (Sophia Kountanis). The rich, wonderful characters in the town include The Mayor (Farentino Lennox) and his feminine entourage, Simone (Simone Stephanson), Inez (Matilda Marquez) and Nicole (Maya Swain).
The regulars at the café are old, bickering friends Pierre (Alanys Fernandez), Doumergue (Macy Lane) and Antoine (Bry’Sean Corbett).
The town spinster, Therese (Raine Taft), and her friend Hortense (Rocky Good) have much to say about the baker’s wife, at the same time dealing with Hortense’s own marriage to the abusive and annoying Barnaby (Marcus Moore).
Amid all the arguing and bickering is the town’s Priest (Jarrell Rodriguez), who tries desperately to keep the town’s moral tone up while holding philosophical arguments with the Teacher (D’Montrea Harris).
Enter Amiable Castenget (Jaidyn Richardson), the new baker, and his beautiful, much younger wife, Genevieve (Gracie Holland).
Although the town graciously welcomes the baker and his wife, gossip begins immediately over their difference in age and whether this relationship will last. All goes well until Genevieve meets Dominique (Logan Freeman), the town’s most handsome and eligible bachelor and his sidekick, Phillipe (Eliot Samano).
Here’s where the story takes off!
The show is directed by Jenny Sejansky with musical direction by Tori Rathbun. The recorded score was beautifully created by Ben Beck, with choreography by D’Montrae Harris.
See you at the theater!
