The rock star will appear in the show, the first Broadway
musical he has written, based on his ship-building childhood
hometown in northeast England, from Dec. 9 and will do eight
shows a week through Jan. 10, the Times said.
The show opened on Oct. 26 to mixed reviews, with Sting's songs
winning most of the praise, and it has lost $75,000 a week since
preview performances began on Sept. 29, the Times said.
Sting will fill the role of shipyard foreman Jackie White,
played by British actor and singer Jimmy Nail, a friend of the
rock star's who, according to the Times, said he was making way
for Sting "happily" for the good of the show.
"I've been working on this show for five years and been at every
rehearsal, every performance, so it’s not like I’ve flown in
from Planet Rock Star to save the day,” Sting told the Times on
Sunday before informing the cast he would be joining them.
Jeffrey Seller, the show's lead producer, said he had asked
Sting to come aboard in part to help give the show a shot at
running until June's Tony awards, Broadway's top honors.
“Our goal is to win the Tony” for best musical, the Times quoted
Seller as saying. "We need a boost, we need to break through, we
need some ammo,” Seller added, referring to the show's superstar
songwriter.
Sting previously appeared on Broadway in a production of Kurt
Weill's "The Threepenny Opera" which was titled "3 Penny Opera"
for its brief run.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Alan Raybould)
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