GALILEO to Open at the Shubert Theatre, Fall 2026

Raul Esparza and Jeremy Kushnier reprise their roles from the Berkeley production, with Joy Woods new to the company. 

This will mark the long-awaited Broadway debut of composer Zoe Sarnak; her collaborator Michael Weiner has not had a Broadway show in 12 years. 

Updated On: 2/10/26 at 11:01 AM

Post isn't available. Can you check your link?

RAUL ESPARZA IS BACK ON BROADWAY

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

(Joy Woods…meh)

CJRochester said: "They took down that Instagram post, but here's the profile and their website to follow for future updates.

https://www.instagram.com/galileomusical/

https://galileothemusical.com/"

yeah that was odd that the post came down...

Not really. I saw this presentation last time they presented it for investors. As someone who is Christian themselves... good luck with this one, babes. It's basically all about religious persecution. All I could think is how the score was actively shredding Raul's voice. Godspeed to him.

Updated On: 2/10/26 at 11:27 AM

The image of the now deleted insta post was saved to Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/s/n55dEDs9JB

I saw the Berkeley out of town tryout in May of 2024. I quite enjoyed it, and Raúl is giving a Tony-worthy performance as Galileo. It definitely had things to tighten up, especially lyrically, but it has a real message and a purpose behind the story -- if they can polish it for Broadway, it will be a real treat. Very excited for this to come to Broadway.

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Not really. I saw this presentation last time they presented it for investors. As someone who is Christian themselves... good luck with this one, babes. It's basically all about religious persecution. All I could think is how the score was actively shredding Raul's voice. Godspeed to him."

 

Important to consider some facts before jumping to speculations about the story, and faith/science in general:

Galileo Galilei was a Roman Catholic who believed in God and the beauty of creation, while simultaneously advocating for scientific observation. Despite his conflict with the Catholic Church over heliocentrism, he considered himself a believer in the Bible’s divine inspiration and did not see his work as contradicting faith. 

Key details regarding Galileo's faith:

• Final Years: Despite being forced to recant his views and sentenced to house arrest, he remained a Catholic until his death. 

• Active Believer: Galileo held that the "Book of Nature" (science) and the Bible (Scripture) both came from God and could not ultimately contradict each other.
• Conflict Context: He was accused of heresy by some Church officials in 1614, not for atheism, but for arguing that the Earth revolves around the Sun

  .

binau said: "Exciting, is the material good though? Tell me we don't have another QUEEN OF V coming??"

Having seen both I can tell you that Galileo is LEAGUES better than QoV. The only main criticisms I had for Galileo is that it needed better choreography and the book needs to be tightened up, but other than that the songs are fun and catchy (esp Two Sides  and Heaven's Changing) and the story is easy to follow. QoV was hot garbage.

Is the next Tammy Faye, it’s okay for the midtown crowd that can get a decent deal on this and forget about it if it’s crap, but if you are on vacation would you want to spent a fistful of dollars on this?

Great feedback - thanks!

 

ChairinMain said: "Saw the show multiple times in Berkeley; the show's point of view is about a three-wayclash of science, the churchand faith and it's an interesting piece. The show never takes the easy take of "Science good religion bad" but does take an overall view of the Catholic Church. The show needed some tightening and focus, but there was some great songs and some interesting writing happening - it remains to be seen how much they've changed but I know from a friend in the ensemble they did a workshop last year had some heavy rewrites. This will be worth seeing, especially because Raul is Raul-ing as hard as he has ever Rauled in his life. His big song, "Heavens Changing" is an absolute banger.Jeremy Kushnier is also absolutely wonderful in this as a complicated character."

 

ACL2006 said: "So the Shubert will sit empty for the summer? Was this trying to open in the Spring but Hell's Kitchen wouldn't close earlier?"

Yes, this was supposed to open in the spring. 

I won't be surprised if the Shubert sits empty, but I'd like to see it host a play.