Bon Voyage to The Last Ship; Sting Musical Sets Closing Date on Broadway

Pop star Sting boarding the cast of his musical The Last Ship was not enough to save the show, which will bid farewell to the Great White Way when his limited run ends on January 24, 2015. The high-profile tuner opened officially at the Neil Simon Theatre on October 26, 2014 and at time of closing will have played 29 previews and 105 regular performances.

"We have been bewildered and saddened by our inability to sustain an audience for this musical that we deeply love," producers Jeffrey Seller and Kathryn Schenker reportedly wrote in an email to company members on January 5.

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.

Joe Mantello directs a cast that also includes Michael Esper, Rachel Tucker, Aaron Lazar, Fred Applegate, Sally Ann Triplett and Collin Kelly-Sordelet. Sting took on the role of Jackie White, originally played by Jimmy Nail, on December 9 to help bring attention to the show, which struggled to find an audience since opening.