Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning director who has spent his career behind a camera, could be headed to the New York stage for the first time. According to a report, the Public Theater is developing a new musical that Spielberg may direct, with an expected opening sometime in the 2027–28 season.
The report, published by the New York Post, says sources told the paper that Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner are writing the musical. One source described it as having a Christmas-related story, though further details about the plot, title, venue, or cast have not been disclosed. The Post frames the project as a possibility rather than a done deal, and a Public Theater spokesperson did not comment on it.
Tesori and Kushner both have deep ties to Spielberg's world and to the Public Theater itself. Tesori served as supervising vocal producer on Spielberg's 2021 film adaptation of West Side Story, and she composed the music for Kimberly Akimbo. Kushner wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics for the 2003 musical Caroline, or Change. Spielberg directed the West Side Story film himself, marking the first movie musical of his career, as Vanity Fair has noted.
Timed to Eustis's Farewell
The Post's report ties the musical's timing to the planned departure of Oskar Eustis, the Public Theater's longtime artistic director. The theater confirmed in a statement on its website that Eustis, 68, plans to step down when his current contract expires on July 31, 2028, concluding his 23-year run in the role he has held since 2005. The Public says his exit will close out the theater's 60th anniversary season at Astor Place, and the board's stated goal is to name his successor next year.
Eustis has worked with a long list of major writers during his tenure, including Kushner and Tesori, according to the Public Theater. Under his leadership, the theater developed three Tony Award-winning Best Musicals — the 2009 revival of Hair, Fun Home in 2013, and Hamilton in 2015 — and productions including Hamilton, Hell's Kitchen, Here Lies Love, and Suffs have transferred from the Public to Broadway.
Spielberg's East Coast Move
Spielberg's potential leap to the New York stage comes amid a broader relocation. He and his wife, Kate Capshaw, moved from Los Angeles to Manhattan, officially becoming New York City residents on Jan. 1 and settling into the historic San Remo co-op on Central Park West, according to the Los Angeles Times. Amblin Entertainment opened an office in New York the same day.
A spokesperson for Spielberg told the Los Angeles Times the move was long-planned and driven by the couple's desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren. The paper also noted that neither Spielberg nor Mark Zuckerberg, who was examined in the same report, gave any indication that California's proposed wealth tax factored into their decisions to look outside the state.
A Broader Theater Moment
Spielberg wouldn't be the only Hollywood filmmaker making a theater debut around this time. Quentin Tarantino is set to make his own theater-directing debut in London next February, helming his play The Poppinjay Cavalier, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen, according to the dossier of reported facts tied to the Post's story.
The potential Spielberg musical also arrives against a backdrop of financial strain across nonprofit theater. Eustis told the Los Angeles Times that stakeholders in the field now have what he called zero consensus on whether theater should exist as a nonprofit performing arts field at all. That climate makes a high-profile, starry project like a Spielberg-directed musical all the more notable for a nonprofit institution like the Public.
