Galileo Galilei remains one of the world’s most famous astronomers, in part because his faith in science got him into trouble with the Vatican during the Renaissance. Now his heretic-to-visionary story is bringing him to Broadway.
“Galileo,” a new pop-rock musical that explores the life and legacy of the Italian scientist, is planning to begin performances Nov. 10 and to open Dec. 6 at the Shubert Theater.
The musical will star Raúl Esparza, a four-time Tony nominee, in the title role; Esparza is a versatile stage star with a powerful voice, but Broadway fans have not had much opportunity to see his work lately — he was last on Broadway 14 years ago.
“Our show is about a visionary who maybe isn’t the easiest person in the world to like, but who ended up changing our understanding of our place in the universe,” Esparza said in a telephone interview.
The production will also feature Jeremy Kushnier as a Catholic prelate and Joy Woods as Galileo’s daughter. The songs are by Zoe Sarnak (“The Lonely Few”) and Michael Weiner (“First Date”); the book is by the screenwriter Danny Strong, who also wrote the book for this season’s Broadway revival of “Chess.”
The show’s director, Michael Mayer (a Tony winner for “Spring Awakening”), announced the plans to bring the musical to Broadway on Tuesday morning in Miami, at a conference of producers and presenters held by Broadway Across America; a presentation of songs from the show was introduced by Mae Jemison, a former astronaut who was the first Black woman in space.
The industry gathering is taking place at a time when new musicals have been struggling on Broadway; the “Galileo” announcement, along with other indications that next season will be more robust than this one, suggests that investors and theater owners remain bullish on the art form, despite its challenges.
“The business has changed and has become viciously expensive in a way that’s frightening to me,” Esparza said. “But this is the ring I want to play in. There’s nothing like it,” he added. “So we’ll do what we can to keep this amazing thing alive, and I trust that we all find our way to keep creating great work.”
“Galileo” is being produced by Amanda Lipitz and Henry Tisch, who collaborate via Key to the City Productions, and Jordan Roth, the former president of Jujamcyn Theaters. The show is being capitalized for up to $20 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Like many musicals, this one has been in development for a long time — Strong and Weiner have been working on it for more than a dozen years. There has been one previous production, in 2024 at Berkeley Repertory Theater in California. The reviews in California generally praised the performances, but had concerns about the storytelling; the production, which explored rewrites and some news songs at a workshop last year, plans to continue reworking the material over the next nine months.
“We’ve certainly taken their thoughts to heart, our own feelings about it to heart, our creative team’s feelings about it, and audiences there really loved it and really responded to it, so we’ve taken all of that and continued to work on the show,” Tisch said.
Esparza said he is looking forward to returning to Broadway. His last experience, “Leap of Faith,” was not a success; he spent the intervening years doing quite a bit of television, including as a series regular on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and with a recurring role on “Hannibal,” and he also occasionally performed on film and Off Broadway.
“The last show went poorly, and those things will kneecap you, and I felt like it was time to look at other options and experiences,” he said. “I needed this time to regroup and fall in love again because, honestly, Broadway was home for the first 12 years of my career in New York, and there is no greater high.”
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
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