Yes, you have to have seen the film Jaws. It’s not, however, necessary to remember the publicized adversity suffered by its production.
Having paid $175,000 for the rights to Peter Benchley’s Jaws before it was published, producer David Brown said he’d never have done so had he known the difficulties ahead. The four million dollar budget swelled to nine. Robert Shaw, who hated the script was talked into taking the job by his wife. The alcoholic hid liquor bottles all over the set. Having been told not to bother reading the book, Richard Dreyfuss, seasick much of the time, had no idea what he was getting into. Afraid his film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was a failure, he accepted without question.
Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw (photo by Oliver Rosser)
27 year-old Steven Spielberg was apparently third choice for director. The relative novice insisted on filming in the ocean unaware that salt water was destructive to the mechanical shark’s animatronics, causing corrosion. Neoprene foam that was utilized ballooned. Rebuilt several times, the shark came to be called “Bruce” after Spielberg’s lawyer. The co-star was ultimately rarely used, inadvertently adding to onscreen tension. Cameras got soaked. Weather wrecked scheduling. Spielberg gave several after-interviews admitting to working through PTSD.
May 1974. Ominous music (oddly not the Jaws theme) “What a God almighty, fucking waste of time! We’ve been on this boat-what-five days?” Richard Dreyfuss grouses, knee gyrating like Thumper. “Jews shouldn’t be near water.” “Didn’t Jesus walk on water,” Roy Scheider quietly quips looking over the top of his New York Times. (There’s a Nixon headline.) “And look what happened to him!” comes the retort. Dreyfuss runs to the rail sick. Scheider volunteers facts about sharks. The question of why filming didn’t take place in a tank rises. Macho Robert Shaw notes he wouldn’t have done it “in a goddamn tank.”
Alex Brightman as Richard Dreyfuss (photo by Mark J. Franklin)
Dreyfuss is dying to do Shakespeare (he never did) to be thought of as a “legitimate” actor. Shaw, who’s played in and readily quotes the bard, scoffs. The two actors are at one another throughout, even provoking physical attack. Shaw might’ve been trying to heighten the newcomer’s performance. “It’s the grit in the oyster that creates the pearl,” he tells Scheider when it’s suggested he ease up. Both Shaw and Dreyfuss have oversized egos and tempers. Shaw is drinking; Dreyfuss indulges in coke. Scheider often acts as mediator.
We watch the men play tabletop games. Shaw rewrites a five page speech. (Benchley’s script is said to have been awful.) Sea shanties are sung. Talk about their fathers and how they got into the business is interesting. Dreyfuss has a meltdown. Insults fly. Shaw passes out.
The piece manages to incorporate character idiosyncrasies, relationships, and events with clarity and economy. It’s revealing and smart/funny, not satire, but rather a fisheye view. The Broadway venue and price, however, feels out of proportion.
Colin Donnell as Roy Scheider (photo by Mark J. Franklin)
For a time, Jaws was the highest-grossing film of all time. Beach traffic changed perceptibly. The movie is arguably the forerunner of what we now refer to as summer blockbuster season. It spawned two lesser sequels, a documentary, and a spate of tell-all books. And put Steven Spielberg on the map.
Alex Brightman successfully delivers Richard Dreyfuss’s barking, staccato speech, erratic nerves, general misery, and pendulum swing of insecurity to bravado.
Colin Donnell’s Roy Scheider is credibly the single element of calm, physical grace and health, as well as believable, curious intellect.
Ian Shaw (co-author and son of Robert Shaw) is less consistent than his peers. Drunkenness and the delivery of theatrical quotes (for which Robert Shaw was known) are convincing, but overall demeanor appears less grounded.
Young Ian Shaw looking under the shark cover. (Photo courtesy of the production.)
Director Guy Masterson channels deft mannerisms for each actor portrayed. Using the confined set with imagination and veracity, he makes the boat seem more spacious. Outbursts ebb and flow so that each feels specific and provoked. Humor lands without self consciousness.
Duncan Henderson’s boat cross-section smartly includes a bit of sunbathing deck and space for actors to climb in from the other side as if boarding.
Video design by Nina Dunn looks simple, but adds constant nuance with the ocean’s horizon line bobbing, waves lapping against the audience side of the boat, changes in hour; sky, sea, and storm. Coordination with lighting design by John Clark is symbiotic.
Opening Photo by Matthew Murphy
The Shark is Broken by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon
Directed by Guy Masterson
Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
