{"id":334732,"date":"2026-07-09T19:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334732\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:03:16","slug":"miami-revival-the-shark-is-broken-premieres-at-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334732\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami revival: \u2018The Shark Is Broken\u2019 premieres at Miracle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/12.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" title=\"Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) and Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre.\" alt=\"Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) and Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) and Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>                Javier Franceschi<\/p>\n<p>            Actors\u2019 Playhouse<\/p>\n<p>Bruce is back.<\/p>\n<p>The great white shark Steven Spielberg and his film crew named and that kept so many of us out of the water more than 50 years ago has returned to the Coral Gables theater where he made his South Florida debut on June 20, 1975.<\/p>\n<p>This time Bruce promises to cooperate and deliver. This time the shark is hanging around for a month in familiar waters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind something that connects with your community, in some way,\u201d Actors\u2019 Playhouse artistic director David Arisco says about the mission that has driven the South Florida theater he\u2019s helped run since its founding nearly 40 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Sound like simple programming? In some places that may be difficult. But connections and community? We may be a transitional and a diverse community with myriad interests. But anyone who\u2019s been in Miami long enough knows that we\u2019re all connected in some way.<\/p>\n<p>So in a sea of serendipity, Arisco\u2019s South Florida professional premiere of Broadway\u2019s \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d \u2014 a comic-drama play recounting how Spielberg\u2019s problem-plagued \u201cJaws\u201d movie was shot on the sea off Martha\u2019s Vineyard between May and October 1974 \u2014 only makes sense if it\u2019s staged at the Miracle. \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d runs from July 15 to Aug. 9.<\/p>\n<p>The venue and the 1975 movie \u201cJaws\u201d are forever linked.<\/p>\n<p>Ian Shaw, the playwright, portrayed his famous father, \u201cJaws\u201d star Robert Shaw, in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d on Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>The Miami-based actor playing Robert Shaw in the Actors\u2019 Playhouse production of the play shares the same birth name as Ian Shaw and studied at the same prestigious London academy that Robert Shaw graduated from in 1948 \u2014 the same year the Miracle Theatre first opened in Coral Gables on Miracle Mile.<\/p>\n<p>Then, if all of these connections aren\u2019t kismet enough, The Miracle is presenting the original Spielberg movie, \u201cJaws,\u201d on its big screen again for one-night-only on Sunday, July 12, as a $10 appetizer for the play and as a benefit for the 78-year-old theater\u2019s ongoing preservation and stewardship as a historic Coral Gables building.<\/p>\n<p>Original \u2018Jaws\u2019 theaters in Miami area                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Jaws_movie_poster.png\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"1804\" title=\"Jaws_movie_poster.png\" alt=\"The 1975 movie poster for \u201cJaws\u201d with one of its memorable taglines, \u201cThe terrifying motion picture from the terrifying No. 1 best seller.\u201d Posters like this one emblazoned the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables when the movie had its South Florida debut there on June 20, 1975.\"\/>                                                                                    The 1975 movie poster for \u201cJaws\u201d with one of its memorable taglines, \u201cThe terrifying motion picture from the terrifying No. 1 best seller.\u201d Posters like this one emblazoned the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables when the movie had its South Florida debut there on June 20, 1975.                                                                                                                                                                        Wikimedia                                                                                        Apparently the whole world saw \u2018Jaws\u2019 there.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Smith<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/entertainment\/movies-news-reviews\/article237327409.html\">\u201cJaws\u201d originally played at the Miracle Theatre<\/a> when film studio Universal opened the thriller based on Peter Benchley\u2019s novel with its disclaimer and tagline, \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0073195\/taglines\/\">You\u2019ll Never Go in the Water Again,<\/a>\u201d on 409 screens nationwide on June 20, 1975. Miracle staff went all out. The theater decorated its lobby in the style of the seafaring movie with netting on the ceiling and nautical props along the walls. A set of \u201cgreat white\u201d choppers representing the \u201cmindless eating machine\u201d that \u201csurvived millions of years of evolution \u2014 without change\u201d \u2014 beckoned to fans flocking through the theater\u2019s swinging doors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently the whole world saw \u2018Jaws\u2019 there,\u201d Rebecca Smith, then head of Special Collections at what is now the Museum of Miami told the Miami Herald in 2013 when the Miracle hosted a series of \u201cJaws\u201d retro screenings. Yes, she said she saw \u201cJaws\u201d at the Miracle in the summer of 1975, too.<\/p>\n<p>Universal quickly scrambled to make more prints of the unexpected smash that originated the film industry term, \u201csummer blockbuster.\u201d By July and August 1975, \u201cJaws\u201d added theater screens in South Florida, including The 163rd Street Theatre and Loew\u2019s 170th Street Theatre and Sunny Isles Theatre in North Miami-Dade, Kendall\u2019s Dadeland Twin, and Coral Gables\u2019 Riviera Cinema.<\/p>\n<p>Only one venue survived the encounter.<\/p>\n<p>Dadeland Twin was closed in 1988 and eventually its space held a short-lived XTra Supermarket and Computer USA store before becoming the current Downtown Dadeland mixed-use high rises and a standalone Publix 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The 163rd Street Theatre was demolished in 1996 and today a Home Depot stands on the land. The other North Dade theaters also closed years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Riviera Cinema, the anchor of Riviera Plaza, closed in 1999. The strip mall near the University of Miami was demolished in 2021, and a two-story, block-long <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/business\/article311898486.html\">Publix opened<\/a> on the rebuilt Riviera Plaza grounds in September 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Only the Miracle Theatre, which has a blink-and-miss-it moment showing lines wrapping on and off Miracle Mile for \u201cJaws\u201d in 1975 in the \u201cSpielberg\u201d documentary that streamed on HBO in 2017, remains intact and in use. You can see the Miracle, then a Wometco theater, at the 35-second mark in the \u201cSpielberg\u201d trailer on YouTube.<\/p>\n<p>The Miracle Theatre originally opened as a 1,600-seat movie house on Dec. 7, 1948, with the Glenn Ford American comedy film, \u2018The Return of October\u2019 on its marquee. The Miracle closed as a full-time cinema on April 12, 1995. Several months later, in November 1995, the redesigned Miracle became the new home of Actors\u2019 Playhouse.<\/p>\n<p>                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_Miracle_Theatre_gala_8_1_8R6S93J5(2).JPG\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"962\" title=\"IMG_Miracle_Theatre_gala_8_1_8R6S93J5(2).JPG\" alt=\"The Miracle Theatre on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables opened on Dec. 7, 1948, with the Glenn Ford American comedy film, \u2018The Return of October\u2019 on its marquee. For the opening gala, Ford\u2019s costar in the film, Terry Moore, appeared in person at the Miracle in a Hollywood-styled opening night celebration.\"\/>                                                                                    The Miracle Theatre on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables opened on Dec. 7, 1948, with the Glenn Ford American comedy film, \u2018The Return of October\u2019 on its marquee. For the opening gala, Ford\u2019s costar in the film, Terry Moore, appeared in person at the Miracle in a Hollywood-styled opening night celebration.                                                                                            Courtesy HistoryMiami                                                                            Miami Herald file                                                                                        \u2018The Shark Is Broken\u2019 background                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/11.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"11.jpg\" alt=\"Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) and Wesley Slade(Richard Dreyfuss) in The Shark Is Broken at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the MiracleTheatre.\"\/>                                                                                    Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) and Wesley Slade(Richard Dreyfuss) in The Shark Is Broken at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the MiracleTheatre.                                                                                            Javier Franceschi                                                                            Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d takes its title and its storyline from the film crew\u2019s frustrated messages to fledgling director Spielberg, then 27, via walkie-talkie, as his cast stewed, fussed, fought, and bonded aboard the listing Orca boat in Martha\u2019s Vineyard waters. At the same time, the three main actors waited through mounting production delays that threatened to sink Spielberg\u2019s folly. Everyone had to wait for the salt- and sea-battered mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce, to work and cooperate so that they could get their shots completed.<\/p>\n<p>Spielberg\u2019s cast featured veteran British Shakespearean-trained actor and award-winning writer Robert Shaw, famed for his role as a villain in the 1963 James Bond adventure \u201cFrom Russia With Love\u201d and his Oscar-nominated performance as Henry VIII in the 1966 film, \u201cA Man for All Seasons.\u201d Rising star and perpetually suntanned Roy Scheider (\u201dThe French Connection\u201d) and 27-year-old upstart Richard Dreyfuss (\u201dAmerican Graffiti\u201d) co-starred. Their counterparts are the play\u2019s three-member cast for \u201cThe Shark Is Broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Actor Ian Shaw co-cowrote \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d with British comedy writer Joseph Nixon. Arisco directs Miami-based actor Iain Batchelor as Orca captain Robert Shaw, Wesley Slade as marine biologist Dreyfuss and Adam Poole as Amity police chief Scheider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it be as simple as \u2018Jaws\u2019 playing at the Miracle Theatre, 50 years ago, or \u2018Scott and Hem,\u2019 when you\u2019re doing a show about Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, you\u2019re doing a show about people you know about, or you\u2019ve read about, or you\u2019ve heard of. So, I just think that we found that when we do a show that\u2019s either directly about the community or about something that the community is aware of or involved in, in some way, it seems to make a difference,\u201d Arisco, 70, said.<\/p>\n<p>                                     <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783623789_73_2.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" title=\"2.jpg\" alt=\"David Arisco, artistic director at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. He\u2019s been involved with the South Florida theater since its inception in Kendall in 1988.\"\/>                                                                                    David Arisco, artistic director at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre. He\u2019s been involved with the South Florida theater since its inception in Kendall in 1988.                                                                                            Alberto Romeu                                                                            Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>That feeling has been in the back of Arisco\u2019s mind since he went to New York two years ago, looking for a title that could go on the list for a future Actor\u2019s Playhouse production, he said. \u201cWhen the rights become available, because of the whole relationship with the Miracle Theater and \u2018Jaws,\u2019 it felt like it was more important for us to do it than just because it\u2019s good play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even so, the connections almost seem scripted, too fantastical to be true.<\/p>\n<p>Actors connection                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/14.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"14.jpg\" alt=\"Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss), Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw) and Adam Poole(Roy Scheider) in The Shark Is Broken at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the MiracleTheatre.\"\/>                                                                                    Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss), Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw) and Adam Poole(Roy Scheider) in The Shark Is Broken at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the MiracleTheatre.                                                                                            Javier Franceschi                                                                            Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>Take the career path \u201cShark Is Broken\u201d co-star Batchelor took to get through the Miracle\u2019s stage doors that were once blocked by fans lining around the block to see a film about a cartilaginous fish with an appetite for hapless bathers and frazzled shark hunters 51 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Batchelor, 37, was born Iain Shaw in South Wales and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. As a student there, where he graduated with a bachelor\u2019s in acting in 2010, he saw Robert Shaw\u2019s name emblazoned on the boards on Gower Street alongside the names of other former Royal Academy students, Anthony Hopkins and Alan Rickman.<\/p>\n<p>Batchelor says he first saw \u201cJaws\u201d via a \u201cbootlegged VHS\u201d family copy of the film. His parents offered to show him \u201cJaws\u201d when he was around 7 or 8. \u201cI think I was one of those kids who definitely saw \u2018Jaws\u2019 a little younger than they should have, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Shaw\u2019s swashbuckling Quint character, and Harrison Ford\u2019s rugged Han Solo in the 1983 \u201cStar Wars\u201d film, \u201cReturn of the Jedi,\u201d inspired the young Iain Shaw to pursue acting 15 or 16 years before he studied at the Royal Academy, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy formative memories of the film, aside from the actual shark, without knowing any of the context of the shooting of that particular scene, is remembering Robert Shaw\u2019s face in the Indianapolis speech moment. Even as a young child, knowing not necessarily anything about acting, but knowing that something special was happening just by looking into his eyes and seeing the kind of thought process behind what he was doing, and the danger and the unpredictability that he always transmitted when he was on screen, was my first kind of bookmarking of Robert Shaw in my mind as somebody who was special,\u201d Batchelor said.<\/p>\n<p>Around the time he was to graduate from the arts school his acting hero attended and 16 years later the character he\u2019d play on stage in his adopted Miami since 2018, his teachers told the young Iain Shaw he had to register his name with the actor\u2019s union to make sure his naming rights were available. If there were another actor with the same name registered, he\u2019d have to select a different name.<\/p>\n<p>This, for example, is why Michael (\u201dBatman\u201d) Keaton isn\u2019t Michael Douglas on film marquees. His birth name Michael Douglas was registered by that earlier Michael Douglas you may have seen in 1984\u2019s \u201cRomancing the Stone\u201d on the Miracle\u2019s movie screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I\u2019m thinking to myself, now there\u2019s not going to be anyone with my name, because I spell my first name the Gaelic way with the two Is. Not a chance,\u201d Batchelor said in a phone interview as he headed to the Miracle for rehearsals about a week before opening night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I type my name in, and of course, there is one search match and I curse this Ian Shaw to the heavens, thinking to myself, \u2018Now I\u2019m going to go through the rigmarole of finding a completely new name.\u2019 Batchelor is a name that was in the family, anyway, it\u2019s my maternal grandmother\u2019s maiden name, so it was an easy fit and it\u2019s been my name ever since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Batchelor, who lives in Miami with his wife and daughter Lennox, who had an off-stage role as \u201cthe voice of the child\u201d in the Actor\u2019s Playhouse production of \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/miami-com\/things-to-do\/article307304436.html\">The Girl on the Train<\/a>\u201d in May 2025 that he costarred in, has to chuckle. He\u2019s stepping into the role originated by the actor who beat him to his name and to the stage playing Robert Shaw in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the opportunity arose, when Dave called me and was like, \u2018Hey, would you like to be a part of this, and would you like to play Robert Shaw?\u2019 I was like, \u201cThis is kind of like a circle of life completing itself. This is Ian coming into contact with me through the cosmos and saying, \u2018Look, sorry for taking your name. I\u2019ll give you some work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robert Shaw in Miami<\/p>\n<p>The first Ian Shaw, born in London in December 1969 to Robert Shaw and his second wife, British actress Mary Ure, had visited the \u201cJaws\u201d film set to see his dad at work with Scheider and Dreyfuss in Martha\u2019s Vineyard in 1974 when he was 4. He didn\u2019t see the finished \u201cJaws\u201d and his father in his defining role for a couple more years. He was 6 or 7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t even go in the bath, practically,\u201d Shaw, 56, said in a Zoom interview from his home in Sussex.<\/p>\n<p>Shaw had lingering memories of \u201cJaws\u201d that lived up to the film poster\u2019s famous tagline, \u201cYou\u2019ll Never Go in the Water Again,\u201d when Miami once again figures in the connection between all of these people and the theater.<\/p>\n<p>Shaw, at 7, visited his father on another film set in 1977 about four miles southwest of the Miracle Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Shaw was starring in yet another bestseller turned into an action film, \u201cBlack Sunday.\u201d Shaw played an Israeli counter-terrorist who has to thwart a plan to crash a bomb-laden Goodyear Blimp into Miami\u2019s Orange Bowl during an NFL Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, when \u201cBlack Sunday\u201d opened in theaters in the spring of 1977, it played at Wometco\u2019s Miracle Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was in it as a little extra on the beach, but that\u2019s the thing,\u201d Shaw teases. \u201cMiami Beach has got the beach where you think, \u2018Well, that\u2019s where the sharks are going to be.\u2019 This amazing backdrop, you know. You can leave the theater and walk down to the beach and get eaten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaw laughs when he recalls another Miami moment and powerful Miami figure \u2014 almost as formidable as Bruce the mechanical shark and assuredly as tough as his dad: \u201cGoing on a plane,\u201d Shaw said, \u201cand Robert was talking with Don Shula.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaw says he initially didn\u2019t want to write, let alone star in, \u201cThe Shark Is Broken.\u201d He was \u201cnudged\u201d into doing so by friends and family. Shaw starred in the play\u2019s Edinburgh Fringe Festival run in 2019, its West End and Toronto stagings in 2021 and 2022, on Broadway in 2023, and its UK and Ireland tours in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>He won\u2019t be in Miami to watch Iain Batchelor step into the role he originated.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Summoning ghosts\u2019                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0713.JPG\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" title=\"IMG_0713.JPG\" alt=\"Cast members from Actors\u2019 Playhouse\u2019s production of \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d during rehearsals check out their character\u2019s \u201cJaws\u201d outfits. That\u2019s Adam Poole as Roy Scheider (right.) Iain Batchelor as Robert Shaw (center) and Wesley Slade as Richard Dreyfuss (right.)\"\/>                                                                                    Cast members from Actors\u2019 Playhouse\u2019s production of \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d during rehearsals check out their character\u2019s \u201cJaws\u201d outfits. That\u2019s Adam Poole as Roy Scheider (right.) Iain Batchelor as Robert Shaw (center) and Wesley Slade as Richard Dreyfuss (right.)                                                                                            Brooke Noble                                                                            Courtesy Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>For his part, Batchelor says he doesn\u2019t feel pressure so much as \u201cjust wanting to do a good job.\u201d He\u2019s aware of the lure \u201cJaws\u201d has on Miami audiences, many of whom are still around and who saw the film from the Miracle main stage seats all those years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat just gives me those tingles of Hollywood and nostalgia that I\u2019m sure anyone who went to watch the film at the Miracle back in the \u201870s felt as well,\u201d Batchelor said. \u201cI think for the audiences that come and see us, I think there\u2019s going to be that kind of subliminal sense of deep connection with the play as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Delivering the film\u2019s pivotal Indianapolis speech on the stage\u2019s recreation of the Orca, in the exact words and cadence Robert Shaw convinced Spielberg to let him write and deliver in 1974 when the original writer\u2019s monologue proved \u201cunperformable,\u201d made the hairs on the back of Batchelor\u2019s neck stand up during the early rehearsals in June, he said. \u201cYou feel like you\u2019re summoning ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d confronts Robert Shaw\u2019s alcoholism. The actor had kept a \u201cdrinking diary,\u201d his son said, which served as research for writing the play, along with conversations with Shaw\u2019s widow, Virginia Jansen, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb\u2019s \u201cThe Jaws Log\u201d that was published in July 1975. Shaw\u2019s second wife, Mary Ure, Ian\u2019s mother, died at 42 in April 1975, when Ian was 4; Robert Shaw died at 51 in August 1978.<\/p>\n<p>The play recounts the father-son dynamic between Shaw and his father, Thomas, who was also an alcoholic and who died when Robert Shaw was 12. \u201cShark\u201d also recalls the on-set relationship between Shaw and Dreyfuss, which gives the story some comedic levity but also much of its frisson, its tension.<\/p>\n<p>                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783623791_261_7.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"7.jpg\" alt=\"Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw) and Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre.\"\/>                                                                                    Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw) and Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d at Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre.                                                                                            JavierFranceschi                                                                            Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>Dreyfuss, in 2023 after seeing the play\u2019s depiction of his character, posed on the red carpet in New York with Ian Shaw and his Broadway costars afterward. But Dreyfuss complained to Vanity Fair that \u201cShark\u201d and its depiction of his relationship with his \u201cJaws\u201d co-star \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2023\/10\/jaws-play-the-shark-is-broken-broke-richard-dreyfusss-heart\">hurt his feelings<\/a>.\u201d He told the magazine that his character was portrayed as a \u201cbig jerk\u201d and \u201cfool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaw counters. He told the Herald he feels Dreyfuss, now 78, is \u201cin denial, I think a little bit, about what went on. He would prefer the story to be that everything was great, and that everybody got on swimmingly. But nobody else seems to say that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A catharsis                                     <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783623792_473_1.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" title=\"1.jpg\" alt=\"Ian Shaw co-wrote and starred in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d from its 2019 premiere through Broadway and touring shows into 2025 playing his father Robert Shaw\u2019s Quint character from the 1975 film \u201cJaws.\u201d\"\/>                                                                                    Ian Shaw co-wrote and starred in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d from its 2019 premiere through Broadway and touring shows into 2025 playing his father Robert Shaw\u2019s Quint character from the 1975 film \u201cJaws.\u201d                                                                                            Nick Driftwood                                                                            Courtesy Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>Co-writing and starring in, and giving others the chance to interpret the role, has proven cathartic for Shaw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s pretty complex, because I loved him. Love him still. So I wanted to make sure that I didn\u2019t show him any disrespect. But at the same time, there\u2019s no point in doing something like this unless you try and do it as honestly as possible, and I know that\u2019s how he always approached his work,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I really admired about Robert was that he was unfiltered and honest. It\u2019s interesting watching some of those chat shows that he was on. Nowadays, it just feels that everything is so managed, and everyone is selling themselves, and they\u2019ve all got these PR people. It\u2019s all very cozy. And everyone\u2019s \u2018wonderful.\u2019 And \u2018we all love each other.\u2019 Whereas when you watch Robert on some of those earlier chat shows, it\u2019s uncomfortable at times. But you really get the feeling that he\u2019s authentic, and that he is an artist struggling to get to the root of things, struggling to get to the truth, and I admire that enormously. I wouldn\u2019t have the courage to go on national television and speak my mind entirely,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n<p>And now that the story of \u201cJaws\u201d returns to its spiritual Miami home, Shaw is ready to let it go.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there was initially a little bit of a thrill of the idea that I would be stepping into my dad\u2019s shoes because of the obvious sort of almost like bringing somebody back from the dead thing,\u201d he said, \u201cBut I\u2019m really gratified to see that the play does well without me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you go                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_Jaws_audience.jpg_3_1_J37T003T.JPG\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" title=\"IMG_Jaws_audience.jpg_3_1_J37T003T.JPG\" alt=\"More than 1,000 movie buffs turned out for two retro screenings of \u201cJaws\u201d at Coral Gables\u2019 Miracle Theatre on Sept. 5, 2013. \u201cJaws\u201d originally opened at the Miracle in June 1975 and a one-time screening happens again July 12, 2026.\"\/>                                                                                    More than 1,000 movie buffs turned out for two retro screenings of \u201cJaws\u201d at Coral Gables\u2019 Miracle Theatre on Sept. 5, 2013. \u201cJaws\u201d originally opened at the Miracle in June 1975 and a one-time screening happens again July 12, 2026.                                                                                            Howard Cohen                                                                            hcohen@miamiherald.com                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>What: \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d opens with previews July 15; opening night July 17; runs through Aug. 9. The \u201cJaws\u201d film screens at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 12.<\/p>\n<p>Where: Actors\u2019 Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre\u2019s Dr. Lawrence and Barbara Stein Center for the Performing Arts, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables.<\/p>\n<p>Cost and information: Ticket prices for \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d range from $40 to $80. \u201cJaws\u201d screening is $10. Tickets can be purchased by calling 305-444-9293 or visit <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/actorsplayhouse.org\/\">actorsplayhouse.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>                                          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/16.jpg\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" title=\"16.jpg\" alt=\"The Miracle Theatre marquee announces the Sunday, July 12, 2026, screening of \u201cJaws.\u201d\"\/>                                                                                    The Miracle Theatre marquee announces the Sunday, July 12, 2026, screening of \u201cJaws.\u201d                                                                                            Jade Mesa                                                                            Actors\u2019 Playhouse                                                                                        <\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644465\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Newsroom_Headshots_MJO_46.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Howard Cohen\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644465\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Howard Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>            Miami Herald consumer trends reporter Howard Cohen, a 2017 Media Excellence Awards winner, has covered pop music, theater, health and fitness, obituaries, municipal government, breaking news and general assignment. He started his career in the Features department at the Miami Herald in 1991. Cohen is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Communication.<br \/>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/miamiherald.com\/subscribe\" style=\"color: #5169B8; text-transform: none;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iain Batchelor (Robert Shaw), Wesley Slade (Richard Dreyfuss) and Adam Poole (Roy Scheider) in \u201cThe Shark Is Broken\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-334732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}