Sting tries to steer his ailing musical

Sting is hoping his star power can plug up a leaky ship.

The singer- songwriter will play the role of an inspirational foreman onstage in The Last Ship starting December 9 at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York. The musical, for which Sting supplied songs and lyrics, has been struggling at the box office. “I’m so excited. I think it will give us a little light. Frankly, we need a blip in sales to be viable,” Sting said on November 24. “You have to do whatever it takes.”

The show, with no big stars and a challenging story to sell, brought in only $ 497,000 ( Dh1.8 million) last week, less than 40 per cent of its $ 1,243,000 potential and the theatre was only 66 per cent full. Mixed reviews haven’t helped.

“This was never going to be easy. I didn’t anticipate a shoo- in at all. I expected a battle because I want to succeed against the odds,” Sting said.

The move isn’t unprecedented. Green Day’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong made several onstage visits to his show American Idiot. But others from the pop world — including Bono and The Edge from U2 and Trey Anastasio from Phish — chose to stay offstage even after their shows sprang a leak.

Producer Jeffrey Seller said Sting was eager to do anything to right the vessel. “It needs help. It’s more ambitious, it’s more challenging than other Broadway musicals,” he said. — AP