Watch out for . . .

STING, who is hoping to bring his musical The Last Ship into the West End late next year or in 2021. But like many other shows with a desire to open or transfer into London, there’s a problem with theatre availability. The minute one becomes free, half a dozen other productions are pushing to move in. The Last Ship, for which Sting wrote the music and lyrics, ran on Broadway five years ago. The Grammy award-winning star was a cast replacement for a while, playing Jackie, a factory foreman at a Tyneside shipbuilding yard. His appearance boosted ticket sales, but the show hit choppy waters when he wasn’t in it. I’m told it has been substantially re-written and re-staged since I saw it, with a new book, which I gather makes more sense than the original. A season in the West End — with Sting — would sell like hotcakes. But how would it fare if his name’s not on the bill? If the storyline has been improved as much as people tell me, perhaps it has a chance.