Alex Brightman and Colin Donnell Join THE SHARK IS BROKEN on Broadway

The Tony-Award winning team of Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, and GFOUR Productions announced today, on JAWS Day (48 years since the film opened on June 20, 1975), full casting for THE SHARK IS BROKEN at Broadway’s John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). Two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice, School of Rock) will star as Richard Dreyfuss opposite Colin Donnell (Anything Goes, “Chicago Med”) as Roy Scheider, joining Ian Shaw who will make his Broadway debut portraying his father Robert Shaw, who played “Quint” in JAWS. Co-written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon, this new Olivier Award-nominated comedy imagines what happened on board “The Orca” when the cameras stopped rolling during the filming of Stephen Spielberg’s blockbuster, JAWS. 

FADE IN: The open ocean, 1974. Production on JAWS is delayed…again. The film’s 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.

The smash-hit of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, THE SHARK IS BROKEN opened at the West End’s Ambassadors Theatre in 2021 to critical acclaim and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Play, extending its limited run in 2022.

Directed by Guy Masterson, THE SHARK IS BROKEN has scenic and costume design by Duncan Henderson, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design and original music are by Adam Cork, video design by Nina Dunn, and casting by Jim Carnahan Casting. Beginning performances Tuesday, July 25 after critically acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on London’s West End, THE SHARK IS BROKEN officially opens on Thursday, August 10, 2023, for a strictly limited 16-week engagement.

Tickets are on sale now for THE SHARK IS BROKEN at Telecharge.com (212.239.6200) and range from $49 - $119 (including $2 facility fee) during the specially priced preview performances.  The playing schedule for THE SHARK IS BROKEN is as follows: Monday – Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Saturday at 2pm.  Please note: There will be an added 2pm matinee on Wednesday, August 2 and Wednesday, August 9.  Beginning Friday, August 11, the performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday – Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 8pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm.  Please note:  There will be no matinee on Sunday, August 13.

BIOGRAPHIES

Alex Brightman (Richard Dreyfuss) is a two-time Tony-nominated actor for his performances in Beetlejuice the Musical and School of Rock. Other Broadway credits include Matilda, Big Fish, Wicked and Glory Days. Alex can be seen on the current (and final) season of “The Blacklist” on NBC as forensic analyst Herbie Hambright. Other TV credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” “Documentary Now!,” “The Good Fight,” “Blue Bloods,” and “Important Things with Demetri Martin.”  Alex is the voice of Pugsley/Temeluchus on the acclaimed Netflix animated series “Dead End: Paranormal Park” as well as the voice of Fizzarolli on “Helluva Boss.” As a writer, Alex has developed series with NBC, Universal, 20th Century, and Warner Brothers. Alex’s play, Everything Is Fine, recently received a developmental reading at Manhattan Theatre Club directed by Cynthia Nixon. He dedicates this performance to those living with chronic pain and illness and urges you to check out and donate to The Arthritis Foundation. Alex has a dog named Kevin and two adorably awesome nieces.

Colin Donnell (Roy Scheider) can most recently be seen as the lead of Peacock's "Irreverent.”  Colin is known for his work as Dr. Connor Rhodes in NBC’s drama “Chicago Med" and as Tommy Merlyn in CW’s “Arrow.” Other appearances include Scott Lockhart in Showtime’s hit series “The Affair”, "Pan Am,” “Person of Interest” and “The Mysteries of Laura.” His film appearances include Every Secret Thing, which also starred Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks, and Almost Love opposite Michelle Buteau.  On stage, Colin Donnell recently starred as Russell Hammond in the musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s acclaimed show Almost Famous at The Old Globe. His Broadway work includes Violet, Anything Goes (which garnered him Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Astaire nominations), and Jersey Boys. Among his other notable stage appearances are Follies, Merrily We Roll Along, Lady Be Good at the New York City Center, The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Loves Labours Lost and Meet Me in St. Louis. Additionally, he's toured with productions of Wicked and Mamma Mia. Born in St. Louis, Donnell is a resident of New York. 

Ian Shaw (Co-Writer, Robert Shaw) trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, having obtained a BA in American Studies at Sussex University. Theatre includes War Horse and Common (National Theatre); Widowers’ Houses, The Importance of Being Earnest, Nude with Violin, The Philadelphia Story, and The Brothers Karamazov (Manchester Royal Exchange); Three Sisters (Nuffield and Theatre Royal Bath); Private Lives and Closer (Birmingham Rep); The Rivals (Derby Playhouse and Philadelphia Walnut St); The Tempest (SRT) and Much Ado About Nothing in London’s West End. Television includes “Sharpe,” “Soldier, Soldier,” “Medics,” “Wuthering Heights,” “The Queen,” “Ghost Hour,” “Silent Witness,” “Cambridge Spies” and the Emmy award-winning “Hiroshima.” Film includes Century, Moondance, The Boys and Girl from County Clare, The Contract and Johnny English Reborn.

Joseph Nixon (Co-Writer) is the author (with Brian Mitchell) of the plays Those Magnificent Men (New Perspectives, 2010); Big Daddy vs. Giant Haystacks (The Foundry Group, 2011); Seven Studies in Salesmanship (The Foundry Group, 2013); and the musical The Opinion Makers (Mercury Theatre/Derby Theatre 2013.) He has written material for Joanna Neary, Jo Caulfield, Jerry Sadowitz, and Basil Brush.

Guy Masterson (Director) is a London based, multi-award-winning theatre producer & director with over 150 credits over 30 years. A 29-year veteran of the Edinburgh Festival, he has produced or directed many of its biggest hits including THE SHARK IS BROKEN in 2019 - which was subsequently produced in the West End in 2021 by Sonia Friedman Productions and received an Olivier Nomination for Best New Comedy. His 2009 production of Morecambe also transferred to the West End and won an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. His 2003 production of 12 Angry Men became the biggest grossing drama at Edinburgh - a record broken by his subsequent productions of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (starring Christian Slater), and The Odd Couple (with Bill Bailey and Alan Davies) which he also directed. Other acclaimed productions include Scaramouche Jones, Adolf, Austen’s Women, Absolution and Playing Burton (a solo play about his uncle, Richard Burton). Most recently, he co-directed an award-winning original musical, The Marvelous Elephant Man in Australia. Guy is also internationally renowned for his solo performances of Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm, Shylock and A Christmas Carol (which is to play in NYC over Christmas ‘23).  His company, Theatre Tours International, remains the most awarded and nominated independent theatre company presenting at the Edinburgh Festival.

Duncan Henderson (Designer) Productions include Hangman (Two Bins Theatre Company), Bloodlines (Talia Randall), Betrayal, The Polished Scar, Underneath the Lintel (Pretty Villain Prods), Crave (Little Warrior Theatre Prods) and 9 Circle (Theatre Tours International).

Jon Clark (Lighting Design) is a Tony and Olivier award-winning designer. He has designed extensively for The National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End, on Broadway and with many other companies internationally. Recent theatre: A Doll’s House (Broadway), The Motive and The Cue (National); The Lehman Trilogy, Betrayal, The Inheritance, King Charles III (Broadway & West End); Cyrano de Bergerac (BAM & West End). Recent Opera: Hamlet, The Exterminating Angel (Metropolitan Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor, Written on Skin (Covent Garden).

Adam Cork (Sound Design and Original Music) has written mainly for the stage, blending original composition with sound design to create integrated music/sound scores for many celebrated productions. Adam’s musical London Road (co-authored with Alecky Blythe) premiered at The National Theatre in 2011, won the 2011 Critic’s Circle Award ‘Best Musical’, was nominated for the 2012 Olivier Award ‘Best Musical’, and a film version was released in 2015 (BBC Films/Cuba pictures). In 2010 he received a Tony Award for the music and sound score for Red (Donmar/Broadway), and an Olivier Award in 2011 for King Lear (Donmar), also receiving the Evening Standard ‘Best Design’ Award 2011 for Anna Christie and King Lear (Donmar). In 2010 he was nominated for the Tony Award ‘Best Score’ (Music & Lyrics) for Enron (Broadway/West End). Other theatre includes: Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s/Longacre) Patriots (Almeida/West End); The Hunt (Almeida), Ink (Almeida/Duke of York’s/MTC); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Harold Pinter); Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory/Apollo/American Airlines Theatre); No Man’s Land (Wyndham’s); Les Blancs, Three Days In The Country, Phedre, (National); Hughie (Booth Theatre); Photograph 51, Henry V (Noël Coward); Frost/Nixon (Gielgud/Jacobs), Hamlet (Donmar/Broadhurst Theatre); Ivanov (Donmar/Wyndham’s); Six Characters in Search of an Author (Headlong/Gielgud); Richard II, A Streetcar Named Desire , The Chalk Garden, Othello, Creditors, The Wild Duck, Caligula (Donmar); Don Carlos (Gielgud); Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest (RSC); Suddenly Last Summer (West End); Paradise Lost (Headlong). Adam is an Associate Artist of the RSC. Television includes Scores for The Hollow Crown: “Richard II,” “Macbeth” and “Frances Tuesday.” Film includes Scores for London Road, Genius, Hamlet, Macbeth. Radio includes Losing Rosalind, The Luneberg Variation (BBC Radio 4), The Colonel-Bird (BBC World Service), Don Carlos, Othello, On the Ceiling, The Chalk Garden (all BBC Radio 3).

Nina Dunn (Video Design) has designed Video & Projections for a wide range of shows, working internationally and spanning Theatre, Opera, Dance, Musical Theatre, Immersive, Fashion, Opening Ceremonies, Live Events and Public Art And is the Creative Director at PixelLux. She is also an educator within her industry.  Work for theatre includes: Bonnie & Clyde, City of Angels, No Man’s Land, Cookies (West End); Spitting Image Live (The Rep); The Trials (Donmar Warehouse); 9 to 5 The Musical (West End, UK and Australian Tour); Othello, Manor, Emperor & Galilean (National Theatre); The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Lazuli Sky (Birmingham Royal Ballet); Seven Deadly Sins, Bluebeard’s Castle (Teatro Colón Buenos Aires); A Christmas Carol (Nottingham Playhouse / Alexandra Palace); A Museum in Baghdad, Venice Preserved, Miss Littlewood, The Seven Acts of Mercy, Volpone (RSC); Hamlet, The Mountaintop (Young Vic); Extinct (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Shedding a Skin (Soho Theatre); Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella (Imagine Theatre); Plenty, Copenhagen, Fiddler on the Roof, Forty Years On (CFT); L’Orfeo, Der Freischütz, Macbeth (Wiener Staatsoper); Spring Gala (ROH); Phantom of the Opera (Cameron Mackintosh, UK, US and Australian tour); The Rocky Horror Show (European tour), Armstrong and Miller Live (Hat Trick).  Awards include Best Video Design for Bonnie & Clyde (Broadway World UK), Best Video and Electronic Content for Alice’s Adventures Underground (Knight of Illumination), Best Design for Cinderella and Beauty and The Beast (UK Pantomime Awards) and a nomination for Best Video Design for THE SHARK IS BROKEN (WhatsOnStage). 

Jim Carnahan, CSA (Casting) has cast over 150 Broadway shows. Broadway: Leopoldstadt; A Beautiful Noise; Almost Famous; New York, New York; Funny Girl; Harry Potter; Moulin Rouge! Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along, Little Shop of Horrors. London: Eureka Day, Best of Enemies. Upcoming film: Ari Aster’s Disappointment Blvd.