Theatre
Esparza first drew attention with his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, which won him the Theatre World Award. Esparza's other Broadway credits include Cabaret (2001), Taboo (2003), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2005), and Stephen Sondheim's Company (2006). He received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical at the 58th Tony Awards and won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in Taboo. His performance in Company earned him a second Tony nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical at the 61st Tony Awards, as well as his second Drama Desk Award, this time for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Beginning in November 2007, he appeared in Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play at the 62nd Tony Awards. In 2008, he played Charlie Fox in the revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow co-starring Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss on Broadway. His performance in Speed-the-Plow earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play at the 63rd Tony Awards, making him the second performer (after Boyd Gaines) to be nominated in all four acting categories a performer is eligible for at the Tonys, although he has yet to win one.
Esparza appeared in a limited-engagement revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, which began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on February 25, 2011, and opened on March 17, 2011.
Esparza appeared in the musical Leap of Faith in the role of the "Reverend" Jonas Nightingale. He was involved in the workshop in 2008, the out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre (Los Angeles) in 2010, and the Broadway production in 2012, for which he received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
It was announced in February 2026 that Esparza will make his return to Broadway, for the first time in 13 years, in the musical Galileo. Esparza will reprise his role as the show's title character from his run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2024, where the show made its world premiere. Galileo with play at the Shubert Theatre (Broadway), with previews starting November 10, 2026, and opening night set for December 6, 2026.
In 1999, Esparza played Che in the national tour of Evita, opposite Natalie Toro. The tour was intended to open on Broadway, but failed to do so. In 2001, he appeared Off-Broadway in tick, tick... BOOM! by Jonathan Larson, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He appeared in two musicals by Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along at the 2002 Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration. He also appeared as the Arbiter in the Actors Fund of America concert of Tim Rice's Chess in September 2003.
In 2009, Esparza starred in a production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater (New York) with Anne Hathaway, from June 25 through July 12. He starred as J. Bowden Hapgood in the New York City Center Encores! staged concert production of Anyone Can Whistle from April 8 to 11, 2010, opposite Sutton Foster as Fay Apple and Donna Murphy as the Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper.
In July 2013, Esparza starred in a production of The Cradle Will Rock at the New York City Center.
In February 2018, Esparza played Freddie Trumper in the Kennedy Center's revival of Tim Rice's Chess. From October to December 2018, Esparza played the title role in Classic Stage Company's Off-Broadway production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He was nominated for the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for the role.
In July 2019, Esparza appeared in a production of Road Show at the New York City Center. In October of the same year, Esparza played Harry in the off-Broadway comedy Seared by Theresa Rebeck.
In April 2020, he was a host, executive producer, and performer in Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration, a virtual concert in honor of the 90th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim benefiting the charity organization ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty).
In December 2022, Esparza was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World. In 2023, he starred as Fagin in Oliver! in New York's Encores! two-week run. In 2023, it was announced that he would star in the world premiere of the musical Galileo at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in summer 2024.
