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She’s not reviving a role. She flips the spotlight. It’s like The Baker’s Wife was waiting for her all along.

DeBose Isn’t Playing Geneviève. She Liberates Her.

When Classic Stage Company announced Ariana DeBose as the lead in The Baker’s Wife, it wasn’t casting. It was a correction. Geneviève, once trapped in a production too chaotic for Broadway, is finally getting the performance she’s always deserved.

This isn’t nostalgia. It’s reclamation. DeBose isn’t echoing LuPone or smoothing over the show’s chaos. She’s centering a woman misread for decades.

Composer Stephen Schwartz said, “I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her sing ‘Meadowlark,’ so I know CSC audiences are in for a treat.” Like Rachel Zegler’s Maria and Snow White, DeBose’s Geneviève isn’t a revival. She’s the version that should’ve existed all along.

Ariana DeBose ignites The Baker’s Wife in a rare off-Broadway revival, reclaiming Geneviève’s long-silenced voice and a role that’s haunted theater lore since 1976.

A Musical That Wouldn’t Behave

The Baker’s Wife has haunted theater lore since its 1976 tour imploded before reaching Broadway. Written by Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof) and Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), it’s based on the 1938 French film La Femme du Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono.

LuPone once described the experience as “the bowels of hell,” according to Yahoo. But the score endured, especially “Meadowlark,” which became a Broadway belt anthem covered by Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Lea Salonga, and Sarah Brightman.

This time, the role isn’t just cast. It’s vindicated. Geneviève, once trapped in a production so chaotic it never reached Broadway, is finally getting the voice she deserves.

Enter Scott Bakula, But Don’t Get Distracted

Yes, Scott Bakula is joining the cast as Aimable, the baker. Yes, he’s a Broadway veteran with a Tony nomination and a résumé that includes Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise. But this production isn’t about him.

Bakula brings warmth, gravitas, and a voice that holds its own. But Geneviève is the emotional engine. DeBose is driving.

“Meadowlark” needed Ariana DeBose

“Meadowlark” is a showstopper. It’s a fable about a bird who stays in her gilded cage and dies for it, just like Geneviève almost does.

DeBose, who became the first openly queer Afro-Latina to win an Oscar for West Side Story, knows how to deliver emotional truth without theatrics. Director Gordon Greenberg said, “Watching her inhabit this role will be like discovering the character for the first time” via What’s On Stage.

A Role That Fits Her Gravity

Geneviève isn’t a villain or a victim. She’s caught between comfort and desire, loyalty and autonomy. In DeBose’s hands, she becomes a mirror for modern audiences, especially queer, femme, and culturally attuned viewers who know what it means to be misread.

This isn’t a revival. It’s a reintroduction.

Dates, Venue, and What to Expect

The production opens at CSC’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater with previews starting October 23 and an official opening on November 11. The limited run ends December 14.

Expect stripped-down staging, charged performances, and a score that finally gets the spotlight it’s earned.

What This Means for Broadway

DeBose’s casting isn’t just a win. It’s a shift. This revival doesn’t lean on legacy; it leans into reinterpretation, trusting her to reshape the narrative.

Ariana DeBose isn’t here to revisit the past. She’s here to replace it. Broadway’s memory is short. DeBose’s impact won’t be.

~ * ~ Stay tuned, stay savage, stay sparkly — Holly out. ~ * ~