Everything you need to know about 'Galileo' on Broadway

Galileo is an original rock musical about the clash between science and institutional authority. When the 17th-century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei champions heliocentrism — as in, the Earth revolves around the sun — he challenges the powerful Catholic Church’s teachings and ignites a battle over truth, faith, and freedom of thought.

Galileo plays at the Shubert Theatre, a New York City landmark located at 225 W. 44th St. between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

The venue officially opened on October 21, 1913 with Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw. The theatre was named after Sam S. Shubert, one of the founding brothers of the Shubert Organization, which operates this and 16 other Broadway venues.

Plays and musicals that have run recently at the theatre include Celebrity Autobiography, Hell’s Kitchen, Some Like It Hot, POTUS, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Hello, Dolly!

Galileo on Broadway is expected to run approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes, including an intermission. This was the run time of the show's world premiere at Berkeley Rep.

Galileo runs Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays. With the exception of some holiday scheduling, there are no performances on Mondays.

The standard schedule is subject to one-off changes. Visit our Galileo page for a complete performance calendar.

Galileo made its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2024, five years after an upstate New York workshop reading. The musical debuts at Broadway's Shubert Theatre on November 10, 2026. Raúl Esparza has played the title role in all three versions.

The Galileo musical has a book by Danny Strong and a rock score by Michael Weiner and Zoe Sarnak.

Strong wrote the new book for the 2025 Broadway revival of Chess, and he won an Emmy Award as a writer on the TV miniseries Dopesick. Weiner co-wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical First Date, and Sarnak makes her Broadway debut after writing the music and lyrics for the 2024 Off-Broadway musical The Lonely Few.

Galileo imagines a confrontation between the title astronomer and members of the authoritarian church.

• Galileo Galilei: A 17th-century Italian scientist whose discoveries about the universe put him at odds with the church.
• Bishop Maffeo Barberini: An Italian cardinal who is later ordained Pope Urban VIII.
• Virginia Galilei: Galileo’s illegitimate yet ever-supportive daughter.
• Cardinal Morosini: A member of the clergy who considers challenges to biblical wisdom an attack.
• Bishop Grasso: A clergyman who shares Morosini’s view.
• Alessandro Tarantola: Galileo’s neighbor who has a relationship with Virginia.

The Galileo Broadway cast includes four-time Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza (Taboo, Company, The Homecoming, Speed-the-Plow) as Galileo Galilei, Jeremy Kushnier (Little Shop of Horrors, Head Over Heels, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Bishop Maffeo Barberini, and Tony Award nominee Joy Woods (Gypsy, The Notebook, Six) as Virginia Galilei. Additional casting has yet to be announced.

The rock-infused songs by Zoe Sarnak and Michael Weiner in Galileo include multiple power ballads that meet the story’s sky-high emotional and personal stakes, like Galileo’s soaring solo about the complexity of the universe, “Heaven’s Changing.”

The full Broadway song list has not been announced, but we’ll update here when it is.

Galileo’s theatrical voyage to Broadway has been a work in progress for several years.

• 2019: Raul Esparza leads a one-performance workshop reading in June at the Susan Stein Shiva Theatre in Poughkeepsie, New York.
• 2024: California's Berkeley Repertory Theatre hosts the world premiere of the musical, led by Esparza, from May 5 to June 23.
• 2026: The Broadway-debut production begins November 10 at the Shubert Theatre. Esparza and Jeremy Kushnier reprise their roles from Berkeley Rep, and Joy Woods joins the cast.

Galileo on Broadway will be in the running for the 2026-27 season’s upcoming New York awards, including Tony Awards.

The 2024 Berkeley Rep production was nominated for 16 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards and won six: Best Production, Principal Performance (Esparza), Original Music, and sound, light, and costume design awards.

There is no movie version of the Galileo musical. The 1975 film Galileo, adapted from Bertolt Brecht's 1943 play and directed by Joseph Losey, is unaffiliated.

Galileo on Broadway is recommended for ages 10 and up.

The Galileo musical is set in the 17th century, but the fierce battle between truth and authority at its core gives it a timeless quality. “Nothing is more rebellious than speaking truth to power,” Zoe Sarnak has said. Learn more about the show, including how the title scientist has sparked other works.

• The real-life Galileo lived from 1564 to 1642.
• Galileo is quite the artistic muse. He has inspired a Bertolt Brecht play and a Philip Glass opera, among other works.
• Galileo didn’t invent the telescope, but he transformed and refined it and made it a game-changing scientific tool.
• The Galileo musical marks Raúl Esparza's first Broadway musical since 2012's Leap of Faith.
• The song “Heaven’s Changing” changed how Esparza viewed his character. “He becomes like a superhero to me in that moment,” Esparza has said.

Get Galileo tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Galileo marks the return of a Broadway favorite and delivers a rock-flavored reminder of the universal power of truth.