’Galileo: A Rock Musical’ Review: Grafting 80s-Style Power Ballads Onto The Story of a Renaissance Visionary Yields Assertive But Awkward Results
variety.comDennis Harvey Film Critic With science denialism and theocratic politics both on the rise, it’s an opportune moment to revisit the life of Galileo Galilei, whose discoveries about the cosmos four centuries ago were considered a threat to the authority of the Catholic Church.
But there are probably better ways to broach the subject than “Galileo: A Rock Musical,” an odd mixture of earnestness, flash and snark made odder by a score that trades in bombastic power-ballad sounds reminiscent of Jefferson Starship, Styx and Jim Steinman.
Michael Mayer’s world premiere production at Berkeley Rep (where he also launched “American Idiot” fifteen years ago) has its strengths, not least the vocal prowess of a cast led by Raul Esparza.
Still, it’s hard to imagine an easy road ahead for a show whose theme is fairly rarefied by musical-theater standards, yet whose sometimes hokey, simplistic tenor is unlikely to generate the critical support needed to lure in more mainstream audiences.
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