The previously reported rumors were true. Sting will join the cast of his Broadway musical The Last Ship on December 9. The Grammy winner will replace Jimmy Nail as Jackie White and perform in the production through January 10, 2015.
The new tuner, directed by Joe Mantello, has had disappointing box office grosses since opening on October 26 at the Neil Simon Theatre. It earned $536,449 out of a potential $1,243,260 for the week ending November 16.
“I’ve been working on this show for five years and been at every rehearsal, every performance, so it’s not like I’ve flown in from Planet Rock Star to save the day,” said Sting told The New York Times.
Featuring a book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, The Last Ship is inspired by Sting’s own childhood experiences and his album of the same name. It is set in an English seafaring town that operates around the local shipyard and follows Gideon Fletcher, a man who left home to see the world and returns fourteen years later to find that the future of the shipyard is in danger. The shipyard’s workers decide to take their fate into their own hands and build a towering representation of the shared dream that has defined their existence.
The cast also includes Broadway faves Michael Esper and Aaron Lazar, Rachel Tucker, Fred Applegate, Sally Ann Triplett and Collin Kelly-Sordelet.