--- title: Sting The Last Ship Needs Stronger Rudder on Broadway: Theater Review description: Even though his tunes are exceptional, the Broadway version of his song cycle is lost at sea canonical: https://time.com/3541941/review-sting-the-last-ship-broadway/ author: Richard Zoglin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-27T19:29:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:16.286Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Sting's "The Last Ship" Needs A Stronger Rudder on Broadway og:description: Even though his tunes are exceptional, the Broadway version of his song cycle is lost at sea og:url: https://time.com/3541941/review-sting-the-last-ship-broadway/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70c349c979bf6c98/698762e68e06016586457ecb/sting-broadway.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "The Last Ship" Broadway Opening Night - Arrivals And Curtain Call og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sting's "The Last Ship" Needs A Stronger Rudder on Broadway twitter:description: Even though his tunes are exceptional, the Broadway version of his song cycle is lost at sea twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70c349c979bf6c98/698762e68e06016586457ecb/sting-broadway.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # REVIEW: Sting's _The Last Ship_ Is Rudderless > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Richard Zoglin](https://time.com/author/richard-zoglin/) ## Richard Zoglin Oct 27, 2014 7:29 PM UTC  Sting with the cast during the Broadway Opening Night Performance Curtain Call for 'The Last Ship' at the Neil Simon Theatre on Oct. 26, 2014 in New York City. Sting with the cast during the Broadway Opening Night Performance Curtain Call for 'The Last Ship' at the Neil Simon Theatre on Oct. 26, 2014 in New York City.Walter McBride—WireImage by [Richard Zoglin](https://time.com/author/richard-zoglin/) ## Richard Zoglin Oct 27, 2014 7:29 PM UTC _The Last Ship,_ the first Broadway musical from rock star Sting, has plenty going for it. The story, about the workers in an English seafaring town who occupy their recently closed shipyard to build one last vessel, has a lot of working-class authenticity and autobiographical cred — based, as it is, on Sting’s own experiences growing up in the northeast England port city of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Sting has written some excellent, evocative songs — many of them delivered by a brawny, foot-stomping baritone chorus, with earthy, less-is-more choreography by the talented Steven Hoggett. The Broadway production, directed by Joe Mantello, is polished and well cast, serious and occasionally stirring. All that’s missing is the ship. It’s probably unfair to point out that a stage musical can’t capture the realism of a movie. But _The Last Ship_ is so reminiscent of those British indie films about gritty working-class folks in dreary north-country industrial towns — some of which have been turned into decent musicals _(Billy Elliot, The Full Monty)_ — that you can’t help feeling something is missing. This may be the first Broadway musical that pales in comparison to the movie it _wasn’t_ based on. The story is a fond tribute to the proud English shipbuilders who were thrown out of work by globalism, Thatcherism and the sheer march of progress. Yet the show doesn’t have much social-political context, nor dramatic tension. The decision to close the shipyard is made at the very start, and the confrontation between management and labor is muted and pretty much forgotten midway through. It’s not even clear just what this quixotic project is meant to accomplish, beyond a symbolic demonstration of the men’s work ethic and skills that are no longer in demand. On screen, the sight of the ship gradually coming into hulking being would have provided a concrete focus for the drama, or at least a sense of forward motion toward a visible, if ultimately futile, conclusion. Here, the whole project takes place offstage, and no one has come up with a visual metaphor or imaginative staging idea to represent it in theatrical terms. Instead, the book (by Brian Yorkey and John Logan) fills out the two and a half hours with a boilerplate story about a prodigal son, Gideon (Michael Esper), who returns home after a 15-year absence, the girlfriend (Rachel Tucker) he left behind, and the son (Collin Kelly-Sordelet) she has raised and who turns out, naturally, to be Gideon’s. There’s a standard collection of colorful locals and gruff working men (among them the lean and weathered Jimmy Nail as the foreman who leads the construction project), as well as a kind-hearted, cutely profane parish priest (Fred Applegate) straight from central casting — for some Irish film, apparently. The show’s uncontrovertible high point is Sting’s vigorous and lyrical score — maybe the best from a major rock artist to come to Broadway. (Bono and The Edge’s songs for _Spider-Man,_ in comparison, sound slick and inconsequential). There are yearning, romantic love ballads; hearty workers’ anthems with echoes of sea chanteys, Irish folk music and _The Threepenny Opera;_and a touch of Broadway pizzazz, to keep the old folks who predate the Police happy. Yet the score is not really enhanced by the show surrounding it. A concert version of songs from _The Last Ship_ (including several that were cut from the show) that Sting delivered at New York’s Public Theatre last year is actually more powerful, personal and genuinely moving than the fully staged musical. PBS aired it on _Great Performances_ early this year (); give a listen to a terrific song cycle that, unfortunately, falls a little short as a Broadway show. ### Hollywood Stars Who Took to Broadway  Michelle Williams made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in the first Broadway revival of Cabaret. Joan Marcus—Roundabout Theatre  Bryan Cranston plays President Lyndon B. Johnson in All the Way in his Broadway debut in March 2014. Evgenia Eliseeva—Jeffrey Richards Associates/AP  A veteran of the stage, Sir Ian McKellen made his Broadway debut in The Promise in 1967\. Above, he plays Estragon in Waiting for Godot in 2014. Joan Marcus—Boneau/Bryan-Brown/AP  Bradley Cooper starred opposite Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain in 2006. Joan Marcus—AP  Daniel Craig, right, and Hugh Jackman are shown in a scene from A Steady Rain. Joan Marcus—The Hartman Group/AP  Jude Law made his Broadway debut in 1995 performing in Indiscretions. and returned in 2009 to star in Hamlet as its namesake character. Johan Persson—AP  Jane Lynch made her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in Annie in 2013\. Above, she is seen performing her role on stage at the 67th Annual Tony Awards Evan Agostini—AP  Patrick Stewart, left, and Ian McKellen star in Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot. Joan Marcus—Boneau/Bryan-Brown/AP  When she wasn't off saving the world as Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson made her Broadway debut as Catherine in the 2010 play A View From The Bridge. Joan Marcus—AP  Katie Holmes played Ann Deever in her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. Joan Marcus—Boneau/Bryan-Brown/AP  Famous for being the boy who lived, Daniel Radcliffe, left, took his talents to the stage and debuted on Broadway in Equus in 2008. Carol Rosegg—AP  Al Pacino appeared as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2010. Joan Marcus—AP  Andrew Garfield played Biff in his Broadway debut in the 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman. Brigitte Lacombe—Boneau/Bryan-Brown/AP  Tom Hanks finally added a Broadway role to his impressive resume when he played Mike McAlary in the 2013 original play Lucky Guy. Dario Cantatore—AP  Best known for her hit song "Call Me Maybe," Carly Rae Jepsen played the titular character in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2014. Kristina Bumphrey—AP  Jepsen is accompanied in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella by Fran Drescher, who made her Broadway debut as the wicked step mother. Kristina Bumphrey—AP  Yes, even Diddy has performed on Broadway. Rap Mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, left, made his Broadway debut as Walter Lee Younger in the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun. 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