Sting musical The Last Ship sails into Chicago

The cast and creative team of the new musical The Last Ship have arrived in Chicago. Pop star and first-time Broadway composer Sting, director Joe Mantello, book co-author John Logan, choreographer Steven Hoggett and principal cast members Michael Esper, Rachel Tucker, Jimmy Nail, Fred Applegate, Aaron Lazar, Sally Ann Triplett and Collin Kelly-Sordelet were introduced to the press by producer Jeffrey Seller this morning in the lobby of the Cadillac Palace Theatre—though the show will play a few blocks away at the Bank of America Theatre, where it will begin previews June 10 ahead of a June 25 opening.

The Last Ship is set in Sting's hometown of Wallsend, in Northeast England, and depicts the effect on the small town of the closing of the shipyard that has long defined it. It's scheduled to run through July 13 in Chicago before moving to Broadway in the fall, with performances set to begin at the Neil Simon Theatre on September 30.