4.5 out of 5 stars

"The Baker's Wife” had me at "bonjour," thanks to its immersive French-village setting and Judy Kuhn (as cafe proprietress) wistfully delivering Stephen Schwartz's scene-setting song of unchanging life there. Then change comes: A new baker (Scott Bakula, charming) and his decades-younger, restless wife Geneviève (Ariana DeBose, mesmerizing) arrive, and their fates and the villagers' intertwine. It took Schwartz ("Wicked,” "Queen of Versailles") and collaborators 49 years of reworking to debut this sumptuous score in New York. One nagging flaw: Neither Geneviève's elderly baker nor her aggressive young seducer (Kevin William Paul, creepy) ever seem right for her. C'est la vie.— Adam Z. Horvath

At Classic Stage Company, extended through Dec. 21; classicstage.org. (Review date: Dec. 3, 2025)