Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher Find Love in First Look at New Broadway Rom-Com Left on Tenth (Exclusive)

Love is in the air at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Broadway.

That's where Delia Ephron's new play, Left on Tenth, is being performed eight times a week, with stars Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher playing two characters who find a second chance in life and love.

PEOPLE has a first look at the pair in action, in new production photos snapped by famed shutterbug Joan Marcus ahead of the show's official opening on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Based on Ephron's New York Times best-selling memoir of the same name, Left on Tenth sees Margulies playing the beloved novelist and screenwriter of You’ve Got Mail. The play follows Delia who — while mourning the deaths of her sister, Nora, and husband, Jerry — makes a surprising connection with a man from her past (Gallagher).

Soon, she falls into her own romantic comedy. "What starts with an unlikely spark blossoms into a love story that seems to defy all odds in the face of life’s challenges," a description for Left on Tenth reads, noting the story "celebrates the messy, beautiful true story of two people with the courage to open their hearts again."

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Both Margulies and Gallagher are stage veterans, returning to the boards after a long absence. She made her Broadway debut in 2006 with the play Festen, and has a number of Off-Broadway credits including Jon Robin Baitz's Ten Unknowns at Lincoln Center, for which she won the Lucille Lortel Award in 2001.

Gallagher has been on Broadway 10 times before. His first role was as a replacement Danny Zuko in the original 1972 production of Grease, followed not long after as a turn as a Claude replacement in the original 1977 production of Hair. Subsequent parts have included notable productions of A Doll's House (1982), The Real Thing (1984), A Long Day's Journey Into Night (1986) and Noises Off (2001). He led the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls as Sky Masterson, and last appeared opposite Kristin Chenoweth in 2015's On the Twentieth Century revival.

Of course, Margulies and Gallagher are widely known for their screen work. Margulies has earned an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work on ER and The Good Wife, while Gallagher delivered critically acclaimed performances in such shows like The OC and Grace and Frankie.

Coming back to the stage was an easy decision for both, they said, upon reading Ephron's script. "I was immediately smitten," Gallagher, 69, said in a video preview for the play released in June. Margulies, 58, noted she was "smitten, too."

"There's a line in the play," Margulies recalled in the conversation with Gallagher. "Your character has flown all across the country to see her for the first time, and they've both lost their spouses. She says to you, 'At this stage it would be easier to just say, "Enough." [But] you say, "I want totality." ' "

"Oh yes, he speaks about the total eclipse as a type of metaphor," Gallagher explained. "The difference between a total eclipse and 95 percent totality — the different between kind of doing something and really doing something — is all the different in the world."

The two went on to share how they hope audiences will react to the story. "I think it will inspire people, when they leave the theater," said Margulies. "I think you will love it as much as we do."

"For a moment, no one will feel alone." Gallagher added.

In addition to Gallagher and Margulies, Left on Tenth will also feature Peter Francis James (Funny Girl) and Kate MacCluggage (The 39 Steps).

Direction comes from five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers), whose work will also be seen on Broadway in the spring with the stage adaptation of Smash.

“Working on Left on Tenth has been a thrilling journey, collaborating with the incomparable Delia Ephron and bringing her story to life with the extraordinary talents of Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher,” said Stroman, 70, in a statement. “It's an experience that seamlessly blends the magic of her storytelling with the brilliance of these actors.”

Tickets for Left on Tenth are now on sale.