Sting gets on board The Last Ship musical
Sting is celebrating its 60th anniversary by returning to musical theater. Twenty-two years after he appeared in the Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, a former Police singer wrote the music for a new show, set at 80 Newcastle.
Casting has begun for The Last Ship, which has been co-Sting made by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Brian Yorkey. Although they have not released details of the plot, a list of characters including the king of the industry, two priests, and Gideon, the main protagonist, who, like Sting, "grew up around the shipyards of Newcastle". Gideon is a "charismatic, charming, cynical, worldly-wise", according to the New York Times, "quick to buy a round or throwing fists, slow to open his heart".
"It’s not just pop music transferred into the theater," Yorkey said the New York Times. "He wrote a musical theater major Sting It’s obvious but also is a musical theater .." The writing is still ongoing – Yorkey called "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" phase – but the readings will begin in New York in October. "This is Sting’s first foray in writing for musical theater, so we want to start having him meet actors and hear them sing at the earliest possible point."
Next month will also mark the 60th anniversary of the Sting, who will celebrate at a charity event in New York. Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and Rufus Wainwright is one of the players saluting the Sting at the Beacon Theatre on October 1. All proceeds will benefit the Robin Hood Foundation.
