Sting Unable To Turn His Ship Around

Music legend, Sting was unable to rescue his ailingBroadway musical, “The Last Ship” even after he joined the cast himself and puthis own musical pedigree under the spotlight as a result. The actor and frontmanof the anglo-American? pop group, The Police was not originally part of theproduction depicting life in the shipyards in Tyneside, but was brought in toreplace Jimmy Nail’s (“Auf Wiedersehen,Pet” and “Crocodile Shoes”) role as ashipyard foreman in December, as the show was failing to become the smash that ithad been hoped to become and it needed a boost to the ticket sales at the boxoffice.

The show is now due to close for good to coincide with Sting’sdeparture on 24th January, when he is contractually committed tojoin up for a tour with Paul Simon, after a run of just four months.

It had been hoped that Sting could enliven the productionand perhaps appeal to his American fans, especially as he wrote the songs usedin the musical. Although there was some initial upturn in the show’s fortunes,it proved only a temporary reprieve as the projections for sales after Sting’sdeparture were not promising. However, it now seems that the producers willlose their not unsubstantial investment in the show to the tune of $14 - $15million, although there was some recouping from ticket sales to the tune ofaround $8.5 milion.

Several theories as to why the musical flopped have beenpostulated, including the central theme which covered the troubled lives ofpeople in the shipbuilding industry and young people in general in a Britishtown. Perhaps the American audience could not relate to the main subject matterof the shipyards, which was the focus of the advertising campaign that precededthe launch, especially women who constitute around 70% of the audiences onBroadway. Rather late in the day it has been suggested that they would havebeen better served to have highlighted the young love story that featuresheavily in the musical. The producers were also surprised that more of thelegions of Sting fans (from his days with “The Police” and also the successfulsolo career he enjoyed afterwards) were not enticed to watch the show.

However,the show featured mainly new works from Sting, rather than plugging his backcatalogue of hits, with many feeling that a homage to that era may have servedhim better in re-invigorating its fortunes.