This year, the CHS Theatre Department will bring the emotional odyssey of "The Baker's Wife" to the Nantkes Auditorium stage.  

"The Baker's Wife" puts forth a tale of love, friendship, the pursuit of happiness, and the ultimate power of forgiveness.  Stephen Schwartz of "Wicked," "Godspell," and "Pippin" fame wrote the score for this production while "Fiddler on the Roof's" Joseph Stein constructed the book.  Despite the fame of the collaborators' repertoire, this particular work never hit the Broadway stages.  

The story of “The Baker’s Wife” takes its inspiration from a 1938 French film of the same name.  In the movie, a French town’s new baker is forced to deal with the unwanted attention of the townsfolk on his young, beautiful wife.  

This year's cast features a variety of CHS's most talented students. Riley Gausman will take the reins as baker Aiamble Castagnet with senior Olivia Brittenham bringing to life the complicated character of the titular wife. 

These are not the only two gifted students in this production, however. Other brilliant students contribute similarly important roles. Junior Liz Hoskovec and newcomer Aiden Ballentine will feature as cafe owners and conflicted couple Claude and Denise while Lyv Williams will play the judgey local spinster, Therese Aguillar. Despite her "holier-than-thou" attitude, Williams confesses that Aguillar, "lives for the drama, and always has her nose in the town's business."

Though the big parts of the show will demand your attention on stage, the ensemble is a hugely important part of this year’s production. Ensemble members include Nathaniel Navarette, Eric Martinez, Kenneth Fuentez, Abby Wurdeman, Riley Levos, Daksh Patel, Owen Papstein, Angel Osorio, Duncan Rosno, Abby Degn, Enyssa Arps, Bri Eickhoff, Jenna Taylor, Fatima Munoz, Caitlin Campbell, Hunter Colegrove, Emmit Martin, Erin Martinez, Sheyla Monteza, Emily Niles, Alissa Pacheco, Alex Peterson, Emily Reed, Lexi Urkoski, Brooke Wickens, Taryn Weigand. These multi-talented students all bring to life the color and creativity of the ensemble.

All in all, “The Baker’s Wife” will certainly be an engaging source of entertainment. The show will take place at Columbus Middle School's Nantkes Auditorium on Friday, November 5th at 7:00 P.M. followed by two performances at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM on Saturday, November 6th. For now, the musical plans to allow for a general audience but this is subject to change depending on the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Stay tuned to Anchor News for more musical updates between now and the show.

Photo Credits to:

Music Theatre International 2015 https://www.mtishows.com/the-bakers-wife