Jaws musical circling a 2022 opening

Last Updated on August 10, 2021

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water, the previously-announced Jaws-themed musical, Bruce, is headed to the small stage. Based on Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb's 1975 memoir The Jaws Log, plans are for the show to open at Seattle Rep in Seattle, Washington, next May.

Featuring music by Richard Oberacker and lyrics by Oberacker and Robert Taylor, Bruce tells the story of a virtually unknown 26-year-old director named Steven Spielberg who in 1974 sets out to film an adaptation of the best-selling novel Jaws.

Here's the official synopsis for Bruce:

While invading a sleepy fishing island off Cape Cod to shoot on the open ocean, he faced several challenges including weather, water, hostile locals, an exploding budget, endless delays, and a highly dysfunctional mechanical star named Bruce, to bring his vision to life in what proved to be one of the biggest success stories in film history.

Originally, the stage play directed and choreographed by Stratford Festival’s Donna Feore was scheduled to open this summer at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. Unfortunately, complications stemming from the ongoing pandemic have forced Bruce to swim away and into other waters.

Bruce will begin preview engagements at Seattle Rep’s Bagley Wright Theater on May 27, 2022, with an opening night set for June 1. It will run until June 26, 2022, and then recede into the depths once more.