Raúl Esparza Reveals How He's Preparing for His Broadway Comeback in Galileo

Raúl Esparza begins performances as Leontes in The Winter’s Tale at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on July 25. Following his stint in the Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park series, the actor is set to make his first Broadway appearance in 14 years in Galileo, an original musical inspired by the life of 17th century astronomer Galileo Galilei. A pop-rock spectacle, Galileo features a score by Zoe Sarnak and Michael Weiner, with a book by Danny Strong. Esparza will star alongside Jeremy Kushnier and Joy Woods under the direction of Tony winner Michael Mayer. Broadway.com spoke to Esparza, who got candid about his highly-anticipated comeback.

“It's really, really exciting and it feels like I'm coming home. There's this sense that people are so thrilled to see me back in this world. It's incredibly moving, honestly,” says the four-time Tony nominee of his return to Broadway. “When they put that giant billboard up around Times Square, there's no way to be cool about it. All you can do is be excited and try to do the best work you can and hopefully people will love it. But don't miss the experience, because this is unlike anything else. This is what I love. This is what I dedicated my life to.”

Jumping back into the Broadway big leagues after a 14-year hiatus is quite the undertaking. So, how is Esparza preparing for this feat? “He's in a bit of a panic, going to the gym a lot, walking many, many hours, doing voice lessons all the time. Pop-rock is not easy,” reveals the celebrated theater veteran. “I'm also obsessive. I’m trying to do as much research about the Renaissance and Galileo and science and physics and his experiments [as I can]. I sort of live in Italy in my mind, so maybe I’ll go to Italy for a while as an excuse for research.”

Get tickets to Galileo!