The Shark Is Broken (and aren't JAWS fans lucky that it was!)
Grammy-nominated Judy Pancoast has been a huge JAWS fans since the Steven Spielberg shark film first burst onto US cinema screens back in 1975. She shares with us those memories and her anticipation for her finally getting to see The Shark Is Broken live on stage.
Note the Quint pin in Judy’s hat and her genuine JAWS necklace from 1975
I've been waiting to see The Shark is Broken ever since I first read about the UK production on The Daily Jaws. Then it came to this side of the pond, to Canada, and we were going to make the road trip but one had to have a season subscription to the theater in order to attend, and that definitely didn't make sense.
So imagine my glee when I heard that it was coming to Broadway, just a short train ride away from my home in CT. I bought tickets to a preview showing right away, the big evening planned for August 4th.
It was what I'd waited for all summer...even through trips to Detroit, New Mexico, the UK, Maine and Texas. I just kept thinking about that show! I've been a JAWS fan since my very first viewing on opening weekend in Portland, Maine in 1975. My reaction, and the reaction of those around me in the theater that day, blew my mind. I'd never seen people so genuinely surprised and tense in a movie theater before. So much fun! And, of course, being a Maine girl, I loved the whole ocean theme and the adventure of the movie. Then there was this cute guy, Deputy Hendricks...but that's another story.
The bottom line is, I kept going back to the theater. Two-dollar matinees with friends and family who had not seen it kept me entertained through the summer, just waiting for them to jump and scream, not to mention falling into that ocean adventure again and again.
Back then it was a big deal for a movie to be "held over" more than a week, and JAWS played all summer! I ended up seeing it sixteen times the summer I turned sixteen, and I was the only person in the theater on the very last night it played, on a school night in October. I cried, because back then when a movie left the theater you never knew when you might see it again.
As it turned out, I didn't see it again until I rented it from a video store in 1985. Back then VHS movies were very expensive, and I couldn't afford to buy it.
Fast forward to 2023, when I'm now a 64-year-old mom of two grown daughters, a professional musician and writer, and still JAWS crazy. It was the first VHS I bought- in 1986 when the price came down- and the first DVD and Blu-Ray. I've watched it every Memorial Day and Labor Day to bookend the summer since I got that VHS, and countless times on other days, including recuperating from illness and hospitalizations. I've read everything I could get my hands on about it, made the trek to RI Comic Con to meet Richard Dreyfuss a few years ago, and also met Jeffrey Kramer, my heartthrob deputy, online during the pandemic.
As every fan does, I knew the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, but I was incredibly excited nonetheless to see it portrayed live on stage by Robert Shaw's own son, Ian Shaw, and two other talented Broadway actors playing Roy Scheider (terrific Colin Donnell with a dancer's body like Sheider's. You'll know how I know that when you see it) and Richard Dreyfuss (a spot-on Alex Brightman...portrayed almost to the point of caricature but done respectfully). Of course, Ian Shaw portrayed his own father so well that it was almost eerie.
The show did not disappoint.
The set was the Orca out at sea, and it was beautifully done through the magic of the theater, leading us colorfully through the different times of day and varying weather, and even capturing that one special heavenly event that every JAWS fan knows and loves.
The dialog was sharp and funny and included plenty of references for JAWS fans and Super-Jaws-Fans. I think the biggest laugh came when Dreyfuss said he was planning to make another movie with Spielberg and Shaw asked him what it was about, and he said "aliens." Then Shaw said something like (this is not verbatim) "Aliens. Christ, the next thing you know he'll be filming dinosaurs." We all roared!
I do have to wonder if Richard Dreyfuss has seen the play and what he thinks of it, as he is not always portrayed in the best light. I knew about his anxiety and insecurity during that time in his career, but I guess I was naive about the other stuff. Maybe that's just because I'm still a sheltered 16-year-old girl at heart.
I know you're wondering and yes, Mr. Shaw delivers his father's USS Indianapolis monologue and, I swear, it couldn't have been any more perfect than if you'd been on set seeing Robert Shaw deliver it himself. Even if the show had not been as wonderfully entertaining as it was, this moment alone was worth the price of admission.
My only complaint is that it was over too soon.
I can't imagine any JAWS fan not absolutely loving this show. I'm hoping to see it again, in fact, if I can get down there before it closes. Maybe I can get Jeffrey Kramer (Deputy Hendricks in JAWS and JAWS 2) to go with me, who knows? :)
Words by Judy Pancoast. You can follow JAWS fan Judy here: https://www.facebook.com/JudyPancoastMusic