The Last Ship played to just under 60 percent capacity the week after it opened to encouraging, if mixed, critical notices. It grossed $495,069.000 for the week ending Nov. 1, compared with $546,914.00 and 88 percent capacity the week prior.
Read the reviews for The Last Ship here.
The Daily News reports that in an effort to keep the production afloat, Sting has waived his royalties for the production, a move that is not entirely uncommon, and may consider joining the cast in January. He made his Broadway acting debut in the 1989 revival of Threepenny Opera.
A spokesperson for the production could not confirm the report to Playbill.com.
Directed by Tony winner Joe Mantello (Casa Valentina, Wicked), The Last Ship began previews Sept. 29. The musical arrived on Broadway following a Chicago world-premiere engagement earlier this summer. "It's an out-of-body experience," Sting previously said of his Broadway debut as a composer-lyricist. "You relinquish a lot of control, but all of these people bring something to the process I can't."
Read the full feature: As The Last Ship Sails to Broadway, Sting Sets His Past Free.
The new musical has a book by Tony winner John Logan (Red) and Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Yorkey (If/Then, Next to Normal). Choreography is by Olivier Award winner and Tony nominee Steven Hoggett (Rocky, Once).
A cast album will be released Dec. 16 from Universal Music Classics.
The principal cast features Michael Esper, Rachel Tucker, Jimmy Nail, Fred Applegate, Aaron Lazar, Sally Ann Triplett and Collin Kelly-Sordelet.
The Last Ship ensemble includes Eric Anderson, Ethan Applegate, Craig Bennett, Dawn Cantwell, Jeremy Davis, Bradley Dean, Alyssa DiPalma, Colby Foytik, David Michael Garry, Timothy Gulan, Shawna M. Hamic, Rich Hebert, Leah Hocking, Todd A. Horman, Sarah Hunt, Jamie Jackson, Sean Jenness, Drew McVety, Johnny Newcomb, Matthew Stocke, Cullen R. Titmas and Jeremy Woodard.
The Last Ship, according to producers, "is set in the English seaside town of Wallsend, a close-knit community where life has always revolved around the local shipyard and the hardworking men construct magnificent vessels with tremendous pride. But Gideon Fletcher dreams of a different future. He sets out to travel the world, leaving his life and his love behind. When Gideon returns home many years later, he finds the shipyard's future in grave danger and his childhood sweetheart engaged to someone else. This love triangle ignites just as the men and women of Wallsend take their future into their own hands and build a towering representation of the shared dream that defines their existence. And in the end Gideon comes to understand that he had indeed left behind more than he could have ever imagined."
The production has set and costume design by Tony nominee David Zinn, lighting design by Tony winner Christopher Akerlind and sound design by Tony winner Brian Ronan. Musical direction, orchestrations and arrangements are by Rob Mathes. Casting is by Telsey + Company/Craig Burns, CSA.
Producers are Jeffrey Seller, Kathryn Schenker, Kevin McCollum, Sander Jacobs, James L. Nederlander, Roy Furman, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss.
Read critics reviews of the musical's pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago here.
Visit Ticketmaster.com. Visit TheLastShipBroadway.com. The Neil Simon Theatre is located at 250 West 52 Street.
