Stepping up for Sting’s music
Sting’s legendary catalog reworked and revived for a critically acclaimed dance-theater production is set to make its New York debut at City Center this spring.
“Message in a Bottle,” directed and choreographed by five-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince, kicks off performances on April 30 and runs through May 12. The limited engagement is part of a North American tour that has included stops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
The show hits Washington, D.C., next week and concludes its run in Philadelphia mid-May.
Alex Lacamoire, the Tony Award-winning orchestrator behind “In the Heights,” “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” added new arrangements to 27 of Sting’s most beloved songs.
Classics from the former front man of the Police, including “Desert Rose,” “Every Breath You Take” and “Fields of Gold,” are interwoven throughout the show that doesn’t contain a single spoken word.
British soul powerhouse Beverley Knight serves as one of the guest artists featured in the score.
The story of “Message in a Bottle” centers on a refugee family torn apart by a civil war and their dangerous journey to find safer lands. As a father, mother and three siblings face this brutal new reality together, they’re forced to make impossible choices in order to survive.
“‘Message in a Bottle’ is a universal story of survival and community told through my music and some of the most brilliant contemporary and street dancing I have ever seen,” Sting said in a promotional video announcing the show heading to New York City. “It’s truly extraordinary, and I cannot wait to see it again when it arrives right here at City Center.”
The original dance production premiered at the Peacock Theatre in London’s West End in January 2020 to rave reviews.