Sting will star in a newly adapted production of his musical “The Last Ship” at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London from Sept. 22 to Oct. 3, produced by Karl Sydow, with Barney Norris contributing a new book.
Leo Warner directs, with 59 – a Journey studio – handling set and video design. The production also incorporates brand new songs alongside material from Sting’s catalog. The West End dates – part of an international run that has already visited Amsterdam, Brisbane, and Paris – follow upcoming performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in June, with a return to Amsterdam in the autumn.
Sting plays Jackie White, a shipyard foreman whose health is deteriorating at the moment his community needs him most. The show, set in the Northeast England shipbuilding town of Wallsend, features a company of more than 50.
“I grew up in the shadow of the shipyard,” Sting said. “I’d watch thousands of men walk to work each morning, but I dreamed of something else… I dreamed of escaping, and I did everything in my power to get away from that life. But the farther I got, the more I realized I needed to understand where I came from and felt I had to give something back. ‘The Last Ship’ is my tribute to the people and the place that shaped me.”
