The Shark Is Broken on Broadway

They're gonna need a bigger theatre! The Shark Is Broken, a deep dive behind the scenes of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, sinks its teeth into Broadway this summer. Get The Shark Is Broken tickets on TodayTix, and see this hilarious show that's already made waves in the U.K. and Canada.

It's 1974 on Martha's Vineyard, and actors Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, and Roy Scheider are on a boat, ready to shoot Jaws. But the weather's lousy, the mechanical shark broke down (again), and everyone's at their wits' end. Co-writer Ian Shaw, Robert Shaw's son, plays his father in this thrilling, Olivier Award-nominated account of the on-set drama that erupted when filming went less than swimmingly.

Jaws fans will delight in this uproarious, up-close look at how the landmark movie was made, plus one of the most famous feuds in film history.

Spend your summer on Amity Island by seeing The Shark Is Broken. Get The Shark Is Broken Broadway tickets on TodayTix.

Though parts of the story are exaggerated for comic effect, The Shark Is Broken is based on real happenings on the Jaws set. Filming went 104 days past schedule, which surely increased tensions. Plus, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss really did feud, with Shaw reportedly provoking Dreyfuss. The actors never saw eye to eye, but some say their feud made their performances more believable, as the tension between their characters felt real.

Ian Shaw's take on these events premiered in 2019, selling out its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That success buoyed The Shark Is Broken all the way to London's West End in 2021, where it earned an Olivier nomination for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play, and to Toronto in 2022.

The premiere of The Shark Is Broken in New York is a homecoming of sorts, as the story of Jaws originated on Long Island. Peter Benchley's 1974 Jaws novel, which inspired the film, is based on the career of shark fisherman Frank Mundus, who worked in Montauk in 1964.

What to Watch For

• The shark in Jaws was named Bruce after Spielberg's lawyer.
• Because the mechanical sharks kept breaking, Spielberg decided to use ominous music to suggest the shark's presence instead of showing it. Now, John Williams's Jaws theme is one of the most iconic film scores in history!
• Robert Shaw died when Ian Shaw was only 8, so Ian didn't hear his father's stories from set firsthand — he assembled The Shark Is Broken from research and stories from his stepmother Virginia, who was on set.
• Before the release of Jaws, film studios released their low-performing movies in the summer. Jaws was the first "summer blockbuster" that turned the season into a prime time for movie releases.
• Jaws is also the movie that made Spielberg a household name. It was his second feature film after The Sugarland Express.