Sting has continued to tweak and change The Last Ship in search of making the musical even better(Image: Getty Images)
Sting has revealed plans to perform in a new version of his musical The Last Ship in London’s West End for the first time.
The 17-time Grammy award winning star will play the lead role in the production during a limited run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane from September 22 – October 3.
The 74-year-old was in London today to make the announcement, and the shows will be part of a global tour for The Last Ship, which has already played in the Netherlands, France and Australia and will head to New York in June before making it’s way to England.
Sting, who was born in the British shipbuilding town of Wallsend, said: “I grew up in the shadow of the shipyard, 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 realised 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.”
As well as being a love letter to the North East, the show is also seemingly Sting’s tribute to his parents, and he previously told the BBC his earliest memory was “a massive ship at the end of my street, towering over the houses and blotting out the sun”.
In an interview with AP after he finished a run of recent shows in Paris, he said: “I’m trying to pay a debt back to my community that I owe. My community made me who I am. It gave me a sense of dignity, a sense of work ethic that I still have.
“I wanted to thank my community, my parents, and this telling the story is a way of doing that, I think, for psychological reasons. You know, when you, when you escape a community to have a different kind of life, part of you wants to go back and actually make amends.
He added: “When I perform this play, the spirits of my parents are flying around the stage. My brother saw the play in Amsterdam a month ago, and he was a wreck, a complete wreck. It’s a very emotional experience for him and me.”
The musical was first developed in 2011 has played in the UK as a touring production in the past as well as on Broadway in New York.
But this version coming to London is completely revised with new scenes and new songs included, and Sting playing the role of Jackie White. White is described as the shipyard’s foreman “whose health is failing just as his leadership is needed most”.
Sting’s songs such as Island of Souls, All This Time, and When We Dance are included in the
performance in a fully staged, large-scale production featuring a company of over 50.
A review in Brisbane talked of the set including “towering metal scaffolding and the imposing bow of a vessel”.
The rest of the cast alongside Sting is yet to be announced, but he has been joined by Shaggy for some dates of the tour who played The Wallsend Ferryman.
Sting has sold nearly 100 million albums and received 17 Grammy Awards, more than 30 Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) Awards, four Brit Awards, numerous Golden Globe, Academy Award and Emmy nominations and accolades.
* Bookings and further information will be available at thelastship-musical.com
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