Theater News

Jarrod Spector to Play Steven Spielberg in World-Premiere Musical Bruce

The new musical follows the making of Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster ”Jaws”.

Jarrod Spector will play legendary film director Steven Spielberg in the new musical Bruce.
Jarrod Spector will play legendary film director Steven Spielberg in the new musical Bruce.
(© David Gordon)

Tony nominee Jarrod Spector will star as Steven Spielberg in the world-premiere musical Bruce, opening this June at Seattle Rep. Performances will run from May 27-June 26 with an official June 8 opening.

Bruce is based on Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log, a novel about the making of Spielberg's iconic thriller. The story takes place in 1974 when a virtually unknown 26-year-old director set out to film a best-selling novel. Invading a sleepy fishing island off Cape Cod to shoot on the open ocean, he battled weather, water, hostile locals, an exploding budget, endless delays, and a highly dysfunctional mechanical star named Bruce.

Spector made his Broadway debut as Gavroche in the original production of Les Misérables. More recently, he starred on Broadway as Sonny Bono in The Cher Show, was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and played a record-breaking 1,500 performances as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys on Broadway.

Bruce features music by Richard Oberacker, and a book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Oberacker (Bandstand). Donna Feore directs and choreographs.

The musical will also feature scenic design by Jason Sherwood, costume design by Tina McCartney, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design by Brian Hsieh, projection design by Shawn Duan, music direction by Lily Ling, and orchestration/music supervision by Greg Anthony Rassen.

Complete casting will be announced in the coming weeks.