Alex Brightman and Colin Donnell to Join The Shark Is Broken

Complete casting has been announced for the upcoming Broadway comedy The Shark Is Broken. Two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman and Broadway alum Colin Donnell will star in the production, which is set to begin previews on July 25 and officially open on August 10 at the Golden Theatre.

Brightman and Donnell join the previously announced Ian Shaw, who cowrote the play with Joseph Nixon. This announcement comes exactly 48 years after the film opened, on June 20, 1975.

Directed by Guy Masterson, The Shark Is Broken imagines what happened between the three stars of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws — Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider — when mechanical problems caused a delay and the cameras were off.

Brightman will play Dreyfuss and Donnell will take on Scheider. As previously reported, Ian Shaw will take on the role of his father, Robert Shaw. Casting is by Jim Carnahan Casting.

Most recently, Brightman starred on Broadway as the titular demon in Beetlejuice, which earned him a Tony nomination for the original staging in 2019. Brightman was also nominated for a Tony for his turn in School of Rock — The Musical. His prior Main Stem credits include Big Fish, Matilda the Musical, Wicked and Glory Days.

Donnell’s last Broadway appearance dates back to 2014 with the musical Violet. He also starred in the 2011 revival of Anything Goes and as a replacement in Jersey Boys. From 2015-2019, Donnell was a series regular on television’s Chicago Med.