Corrie new girls sail to Sting’s Lowry show
MUSIC icon Sting launched his musical The Last Ship in Salford – and stars of Coronation Street sailed along the red carpet to catch the emotional new show.
Corrie new girls Mollie Winnard and Alexandra Mardell joined Victoria Ekanoya, Melanie Hill and Rula Lenska, who has recently rejoined the soap, to watch The Last Ship at The Lowry Theatre.
They took the short stroll across the waters from Corrie’s studios in the sizzling sunshine, with Mollie and Alexandra in matching khaki ribbed ensembles.
The musical stars former Coronation Street heart-throb Richard Fleeshman as Gideon Fletcher, who returns to his hometown in the north east as the local shipyard is facing closure.
It plays in Salford until Saturday, at the end of an acclaimed UK tour of the new production from Sting who has been involved every step of the way.
But Sting told the M.E.N. that there have been a ‘number of offers’ to continue the show, which sounds like great news for theatre fans.
He said: “It’s had fantastic reviews and great audience reaction, it couldn’t have gone better really so I think it will carry on in some form.
“We’ve had a lot of very interesting offers for the show to go elsewhere so we’re looking at all of those and something will definitely happen.”
And the former Police frontman said it was a fitting location for the final week of the show, on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal.
He said: “There’s a little bit of sadness because we’re finishing on Saturday but I think it’s a very appropriate setting right by the Ship Canal.
“I think this story will resonate with the people of Manchester, it’s a story not unfamiliar to them, what happens to a town when an industry dies. But it’s also a love story, an entertaining love story with some good songs.”
The premiere was taking place at the same time as England’s huge World Cup match in Russia – but Sting was quite right in calling that it would be ‘stressful’ to watch it.
He laughed: “I’m actually glad that I’m going to watch my play tonight and not watching football. Watching England is very stressful. It’s much easier watching France or Brazil because you don’t really care about the result, you can just enjoy the football but when England play – I care too much, so I get a little bit anxious.”
And Sting was certainly enjoying the Salford sunshine, saying: “It’s like the Costa Brava or San Tropez to me. It’s great seeing lots of Mancunians with suntans.”