EXIT THE SHARK IS BROKEN, STAGE LEFT. ENTER BRUCE THE MUSICAL, STAGE RIGHT.
The Shark Is Broken has finished its run in the West End, long live The Shark Is Broken, but another Jaws-related stage show is set to embark on its maiden voyage across the other side of the Atlantic.
Bruce the Musical is set to make its debut in Seattle this May, ahead of it transferring to Broadway, and is about, you guessed it, the making of Jaws.
This time we aren’t stuck on the Orca, this one is also set to feature the likes of then Head of Universal, Sid Sheinberg, Jaws author Peter Benchley and even a singing Steven Spielberg. A whaaaat? And no doubt the likes of Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss.
Well Spielberg really should be careful what he wishes for, as during the interviews ahead of the release of his latest film West Side Story he thought that out of all of his past pictures that Jaws would likely have the best chance of being a good musical.
He was asked the question for Zavvi TV, and his answer - without missing a beat - was Jaws.
Spielberg said: "Jaws should be a musical... I need a character, or a lot of swimmers to be able to swim fast and swim in those interesting Olympic-style formations. I could make it into a really good musical comedy."
Now it looks like we’ll get to find that out for ourselves. Currently we don’t know any casting – apart from that done by Quint on the Orca with his piano wire – but we do know that it is written by Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor, the duo behind the hit musical Bandstand.
Bruce the Musical may be a different theatrical beast than The Shark Is Broken, and the latter’s success show there is an appetite for Jaws-based productions on stage. Let’s hope this one doesn’t stop swimming until it gets to Broadway.
What do you think of the idea of a Jaws musical?
Words by Dean Newman
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