STAGE REVIEW : ‘BAKER’ GOES STALE AT PLAYHOUSE

Several characters have been dropped from “The Baker’s Wife” since it first played the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1976, but in its scaled-down reopening at the Coast Playhouse, less has not become more.

A weak book isn’t necessarily a cardinal sin in a musical if it’s buttressed by an expressive score. But in this case, the sketchiness of Joseph Stein’s text is exposed by Stephen Schwartz’s vapid music and lyrics. And once again, serious miscasting throws the story out of whack.

“The Baker’s Wife” is based on the Marcel Pagnol-Jean Giono film, “La Femme du Boulanger,” and deals with the arrival of a 60ish baker and his young wife to a village in southern France. The villagers are eager for fresh bread; one of them, young Dominique, is eager for the wife Genevieve as well, and since she’s indicated earlier that she married Aimable the baker on the rebound, we can see the trouble in store for everyone.

In the past, the French have shown notable sensitivity toward May-December relationships, a result of having lost a generation of young men in World War I (“The Baker’s Wife” takes place in 1935). But instead of a Gallic deliberation on a young woman’s sexual recklessness and her rediscovery of her husband’s companionable warmth, we have a character flattened into a dumb-happy musical format.

One of the best songs ever written to express a young woman’s comparable sensuality is “The Miller’s Son” from “A Little Night Music” in which Petra, the maid, knows she’ll settle down one day, but in the meantime, “a girl has to celebrate what’s passing by.” What does Genevieve say about herself here? “Do you know what I want to be when I grow up? A princess in a castle.”

There isn’t any sexual chemistry between Alix Korey’s Genevieve and Cameron Smith’s Dominique. She’s unprepossessing and somewhat drab; her strength is in her voice but most of her songs are so trite that her character loses out there as well. Smith has a blond all-American look--he’d make a good Curley in “Oklahoma”--but his emotional transitions aren’t sharp. When Genevieve sings “We have the fire but where is the warmth?” the song sounds puzzling. We haven’t seen any fire; we’ve only heard declarations.

As in the 1976 production, “The Baker’s Wife” is thrown off balance by the casting of Aimable. Topol, who created the role, was considered too virile to be so slighted by Genevieve (Aimable is described as “a funny little man”). Tony Steedman here is the most charismatic actor on the stage--despite Aimable’s almost epic guilelessness. He has the facial symmetry and pensiveness of an old Dutch master’s warrior king. He isn’t much of a singer, and there isn’t much about Aimable for an actor to work with. But Steedman’s quiet authority is one of the few noteworthy elements in this light musical, as is Toni Kaye’s portrayal of Denise, a cafe proprietress.

Bruce Monroe designed the set, Dorian Vernacchio the lights, Kasia Stefaner the costumes and Robert Joyce the scenic art, and they all work well together. Susan H. Schulman directs. ‘THE BAKER’S WIFE’

A musical with book by Joseph Stein and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, with Brent Black, Ralph Bruneau, Barbara Brussell, Doug Carfrae, Jenean Chandler, Maris Clement, Cynthia Crass, Jack Hoffmann, Toni Kaye, Alix Korey, Michael Nagle, Cameron Smith, Tony Steedman. Sets, Bruce Monroe; lights, Dorian Vernacchio; costumes, Kasia Stefaner; scenic design, Robert Joyce. Orchestrations, David Siegel and Kevin Stites. Musical director, Phil Reno. Choreography, Michael Lichtefeld. Director, Susan H. Schulman. Performances Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays 7 p.m. at 8325 Santa Monica Blvd. (213) 650-8507, through March 23.