Photos By Gail
OK, I think that long-time readers can agree that I am always finding unusually fun and freaky shark-related items to feature in this ongoing column which I affectionately refer to as Shark Attack. And just when I think it’s safe to look in my mailbox, this shows up: Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun! Shark Attack Broadway Play!
Believe it or not, The Shark is Broken is a play about making of the 1974 blockbuster movie, Jaws. Yes, I just typed that.
Here’s what it says on the play’s official website.
FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Filming is delayed…again. The lead actors — theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider — are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic…if it doesn’t sink them all.
Step aboard the Orca and into The Shark is Broken. This Olivier Award-nominated new play is “hilariously brilliant and pure genius” (★★★★★ Raves the Sunday Express) and stars Ian Shaw (War Horse, Common) as his father, Robert Shaw, with Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice, School of Rock) as Richard Dreyfuss, and Colin Donnell (Anything Goes, Chicago Med) as Roy Scheider.
It sounds very meta.
Directed by Olivier Award winner Guy Masterson, co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, and inspired by Robert Shaw’s experience playing Quint on the notorious shoot, The Shark is Broken celebrates movie history and peeks at the choppy waters behind Hollywood’s first blockbuster.
Short tempers. Short circuits. 90 minutes, no intermission.
The Shark is Broken is Now Play at the John Golden Theatre, Located at 252 West 45th Street in New York City!
My friend saw it in previews and will be attending this evening’s official premiere. He and his missus loved it and said its very worth seeing. I’d like to check this one out myself.