Sting will star in a reworked production of his musical The Last Ship at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, running from September 22 to October 3. The production is part of an international tour that has already played Amsterdam, Brisbane, and Paris, and will stop at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in June before arriving in London.
According to Variety, the 2026 version of the show features a new book by playwright Barney Norris, additional scenes, and newly written songs alongside material from Sting's catalog. Songs included in the production are "Island of Souls," "All This Time," and "When We Dance." Leo Warner directs, and the cast numbers more than 50 performers.
Sting plays Jackie White, a shipyard foreman whose health is failing at the moment his community needs him most. The show is set in Wallsend, a shipbuilding town in Northeast England where Sting grew up.
"I grew up in the shadow of the shipyard," Sting said. "I'd watch thousands of men walk to work each morning, but I dreamed of something else… I dreamed of escaping, and I did everything in my power to get away from that life. But the farther I got, the more I realized I needed to understand where I came from and felt I had to give something back. 'The Last Ship' is my tribute to the people and the place that shaped me."
The musical traces back to 1991. Sting first began developing it from his album The Soul Cages, with work on the stage version starting in 2011. It had its Broadway premiere in 2014 and earned Tony nominations for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations.
The new book is drawn from a version by Lorne Campbell, which was itself based on an original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey. The creative team includes costume designer Loren Elstein, choreographer Rebecca Howell, sound designer Tom Gibbons, and musical supervisor and orchestrator Rob Mathes.
In connection with the run, Sting has released The Last Ship (Expanded Edition), an extended version of the original album featuring five new recordings produced by Sting and Mathes.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane is owned and operated by LW Theatres, the portfolio company wholly owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. After the London dates, the production returns to Amsterdam in the autumn.
