'The Baker's Wife' visits
Now that composer Stephen Schwartz has earned fame and awards for shows like "Wicked" and the Disney film "Enchanted," some of his earlier works are being re-examined and revived.
"The Baker's Wife" is one such show and this weekend it opens at Palatine's Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St. LZP Productions is closing its 2007-2008 season with the charming, but virtually unknown show which toured the country in 1976 but never made it to Broadway.
The show opens Saturday and will have weekend performance dates through April 27.
"When we first moved to Cutting Hall in 2001, we did 'Children of Eden,' another of Schwartz's shows, and I fell madly in love with the harmony and music," explained Morra Miller-Priess, artistic director of the 11-year-old repertory company and director of this show.
"I had never been all that impressed with his most famous show, 'Godspell,' " she admitted. "I consider it a cute piece of fluff, but I loved 'Children of Eden' and that prompted me (to) look at other shows he had done. That is when I found 'The Baker's Wife.' "
Based on a 1938 French film called "La Femme du Boulanger," "The Baker's Wife" is a romantic but bittersweet fable about the bickering residents of a small town who find peace and contentment in the heavenly bread that is created by the new baker in town. But when the baker's gorgeous young wife runs off with a handsome gigolo, the baker loses his zest for life and baking and throws the town into a tizzy.
Schwartz collaborated with "Fiddler on the Roof" playwright Joseph Stein on the project.
"The show is very funny, but it also has some sweet and heart-breaking moments as the villagers learn what true love is," Miller-Priess said. "And it has one of the most gorgeous scores I have ever heard."
This is only the third time that the show has been performed in the Chicago area, according to Miller-Priess. It was done years ago by a group in Elgin and four summers ago at Chicago's Atheneum Theater. But it is not widely known in this area.
And that is what LZP Productions likes best.
"We like to do shows that are unusual or haven't been done around here in awhile," she explained.
Leads for the show are Ken Priess of Hawthorn Woods as the baker; Ashley Stricker of Schaumburg as the baker's wife; Steve Peter of Schaumburg as Dominique; and Mary Campbell of Palatine as Denise. The cast features 16 actors in all.
If you go
What: "The Baker's Wife," a musical by "Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz
When: 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday; also 8 p.m. April 19, 25 and 26; 3 p.m., April 20 and 27
Where: Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St., Palatine
Tickets: $17
Call: (224) 639-3422