ST. PAUL, Minn. (Sept. 9, 2019) — Sting appeared at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts last night for a preview of his acclaimed musical, THE LAST SHIP, performing songs from the musical for a select audience. The musical is part of 2019-2020 Broadway at the Ordway and will make its regional premiere at the Ordway in St. Paul for two weeks, April 8 – 19, 2020, as part of an international tour.

Sting will star as shipyard foreman Jackie White, and will perform the role at every performance. Additional cities and tour casting will be announced at a later date.

Tickets for the Ordway run of THE LAST SHIP, starring and featuring original music and lyrics by multiple Grammy Award®-winner Sting, are on sale for season subscribers to 2019-2020 Broadway at the Ordway, Pick-Your-Own subscribers (defined as three or more performances from the entire Ordway line-up of musicals, concerts and dance performances), and groups (those purchasing 10 or more tickets).

On sale dates are as follows:

• ON SALE NOW for 2019-2020 Broadway at the Ordway season subscribers
• ON SALE SEPTEMBER 9 for Groups of 10+ and PYO (3+ shows) subscribers
• ON SALE OCTOBER 15 for Ordway donors
• ON SALE OCTOBER 28 for single ticket buyers

To access the presale or learn how to become a subscriber or donor, visit Ordway.org, or call the box office at 651.224.4222 between 10am and 5pm, Monday through Friday.

“We are thrilled to host Sting and The Last Ship on our stage as part of 2019-2020 Broadway at the Ordway. Seeing Sting perform in a semi-autobiographical musical at the intimate Ordway theater will be a once in a lifetime experience,” said Rod Kaats, the Ordway’s Producing Artistic Director.

THE LAST SHIP, inspired by Sting’s 1991 album “The Soul Cages” and his own childhood experiences, tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the Swan Hunter shipyard.

When a sailor named Gideon Fletcher returns home after seventeen years at sea, tensions between past and future flare in both his family and his town. The local shipyard, around which the community has always revolved, is closing and no one knows what will come next, only that a half-built ship towers over the terraces. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White (Sting) and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.

This personal, political and passionate musical from multiple Grammy Award®-winner Sting is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. THE LAST SHIP features an original score with music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his best-loved songs; Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance. It is the proud story of when the last ship sails.

The musical is directed by Lorne Campbell, the artistic director of Northern Stage, and has set design by the Tony Award-winning 59 Productions, the team behind the video design for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

THE LAST SHIP has a new book by Lorne Campbell, original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, orchestrations by Rob Mathes, musical direction by Richard John, costume design by Molly Einchcomb, movement direction by Lucy Hind, lighting design by Matt Daw and sound design by Seb Frost. Other members of the creative team include dramaturg and associate director Selma Dimitrijevic, casting director Beth Eden and associate musical director (U.K.) Sam Sommerfeld.

THE LAST SHIP is produced by Karl Sydow.



“☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ TRULY AMAZING” – Daily Telegraph

“POIGNANT AND POWERFUL” – Sunday Mirror

“A ROUSING EVENING FULL OF HEART AND SONG” – The Guardian

“A THRILL TO WATCH” – The Globe and Mail


Sting was born Gordon Matthew Sumner on October 2, 1951 in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, the eldest of four children of Audrey (Cowell) and Ernest Matthew Sumner, an engineer and milkman.

He grew up in the turmoil of the ship-building industry and wanted to become a musician very early having developed a love for the bass guitar. He played in jazz/rock bands such as “The Last Exit” and other various outfits, including a Dixieland jazz group, and in 1977, he formed the rock trio, The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.

In 1984, he went on to record solo albums, and has evolved into one of the most prolific songwriters and musicians in the world. Throughout his illustrious career, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards®, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, four Academy Award nominations, a Tony nomination and has sold close to 100 million albums from his combined work with The Police and as a solo artist. Following his critically-acclaimed album, 57th & 9th, his first rock/pop collection in over a decade, Sting and Jamaican musician, Shaggy released a collaborative, island-flavored album, entitled 44/876, that reflects the duo’s mutual love of Jamaica - its music, the spirit of its people and the vibrancy of its culture - and has spent over 20 weeks atop Billboard’s Reggae album chart and received the Grammy Award® for Best Reggae album.

Sting, managed by The Cherrytree Music Company, has appeared in over 15 films such as Quadrophenia (1979) and Bring on the Night (1984) and has published a memoir entitled Broken Music in 2003, which spent 13 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers list. He has received honorary Doctorate of Music degrees from Northumbria University in October 1992, Berklee College of Music in May 1994, University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2006, and from Brown University in 2018.

Sting recently released a new album, entitled My Songs, consisting of contemporary interpretations of his most celebrated hits. He is currently on tour in Europe with “My Songs” - a rollicking, dynamic show featuring the most beloved songs written throughout his prolific career.

Next year Sting will also headline a Las Vegas residency, “My Songs,” set to open at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on May 22, 2020. The show will present a compendium of Sting’s songs with dynamic, visual references to some of his most iconic videos and inspirations. For more information, please visit: www.sting.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY AT THE ORDWAY

Broadway at the Ordway includes a mix of Broadway Touring Shows and self-produced Ordway Originals. The seven shows in the upcoming 2019-2020 season are all new to Minnesota; brand new, never-seen-here-before titles, and imaginatively reinvented revivals of Broadway classics including Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, Mike Birbiglia’s The New One, Ever After, Once On This Island, Sting in The Last Ship, The Color Purple, and Groundhog Day. Broadway at the Ordway is sponsored by Bremer Bank. Smokey Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, the first show in the 2019-2020 Broadway at the Ordway season, opens September 10 and runs through September 22.

ABOUT THE ORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Recognized as one of the country’s leading not-for-profit performing arts centers, the Ordway presents and produces a wide variety of performances throughout the year that encompass the finest in Broadway musicals, concerts, dance and vocal artists. The Ordway serves over 60,000 children each year through its education programs and presents the annual Flint Hills Family Festival. The performing arts center houses a 1,900-seat Music Theater, a 1,100-seat Concert Hall and magnificent lobbies. The Ordway is a proud member of the Arts Partnership, a collaboration comprising the Ordway, Minnesota Opera, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Schubert Club.

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