Sting’s The Last Ship tour has now launched in Liverpool – following a sell-out, critically-acclaimed run at Newcastle’s Northern Stage.

The production, which has a Tony-nominated original score and lyrics composed by Sting, is touring until July and plays Birmingham, Northampton, Leeds, Nottingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York and Salford.

The show features ‘superlative’ design and ‘stunning’ projections from 59 Productions – who just won the Best Design Olivier Award (alongside Bob Crowley) – for recent West End hit An American in Paris.

Sting’s personal and passionate musical The Last Ship was officially launched at Northern Stage Newcastle last night – earning a rousing reception and critical acclaim with 5 and 4 star reviews.

Tuesday night saw Sting and other famous North East faces – including Alan Shearer and Denise Welch – attend a red carpet gala raising funds for local charity The Graham Wylie Foundation.

Following its Tyneside run the show sets sail on a major UK & Eire tour vising cities including Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds and Salford.

It was anchors aweigh for The Last Ship this week as the show opened for previews at Northern Stage in Newcastle, ahead of its official opening night on March 21. 

Following weeks of intensive rehearsals, the curtain finally went up on Sting’s debut musical, in the city that is the production’s spiritual home. 

The cast and creative team earned a standing ovation at the end of the first performance and extremely positive response on social media. 

Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Joe McGann (Jackie White) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson) have now been announced as the principle cast for the UK premiere of The Last Ship!

Richard Fleeshman is a familiar face on our stage and screens having been acting since the age of 12 when he played the role of Craig Harris in Coronation Street for four years. A talented singer-songwriter, Richard’s stage roles include Sam Wheat in Ghost the Musical, a part he originated and played in the West End on Broadway, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (UK Tour) and Bobby Strong in Urinetown (original West End production). 

Charlie Hardwick played Val Pollard from 2004 to 2015 and again in 2017 in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. For this role, she won the 2006 British Soap Award for Best Comedy Performance. Stage credits include Hyem (Theatre 503/Northern Stage) and Double Lives (Live Theatre). 

Joe McGann, perhaps best known for his lead role as Charlie Burrows in the comedy series The Upper Hand, has had a wide career spanning theatre, television and film. Theatre credits include Elf (Plymouth Theatre Royal/ Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin, Dominion Theatre, West End, and Lowry, Salford); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (UK Tour); Calendar Girls (three UK tours), Olivier! (London Palladium), Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (UK Tour, 2008), Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (ATG UK Tour, 2006).                                                                                                                                    

Frances McNamee is currently appearing alongside Kelsey Grammer in Big Fish (The Other Palace). Other stage credits include The Mother (Tricycle), Love’s Labour’s Lost, Love’s Labour’s Won (RSC), Punishment Without Revenge (Arcola/Theatre Royal Bath/Belgrade Coventry), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal and Derngate), The Borrowers (Northern Stage), Epsom Downs (Salisbury Playhouse), The   Phoenix   of   Madrid, The Surprise of Love (Theatre Royal Bath) and Les Misérables 20th Anniversary Gala Performance (West End). Her film credits include Love in Fifteen Minutes.

The Last Ship will premiere in Newcastle from 12 March - 7 April, before embarking a UK and Ireland tour.

A series of high-profile press launches were held in December for The Last Ship. Exclusive events were held across five cities in three days incorporating Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Manchester and Liverpool.

The intimate launches – which saw Sting take to the stage to perform tracks from The Last Ship, as well as talk about how he came to write the show and answer questions from invited guests – were held at evocative venues aimed at capturing the spirit of the musical, which centres around the closure of the ship yards in Sting’s home city of Newcastle. These venues included the Maritime Museum in Liverpool, Leith Dockers Club in Edinburgh and Fairfield Govan shipbuilding heritage centre in Glasgow. Following the launch presentation Sting undertook regional press activity including photocalls and interviews – across TV, radio, print and online.

Last Ship is going on the road with a series of launches being held across cities in England, Scotland and Ireland next week. Press and invited guests will be getting an exclusive chance to learn more about the acclaimed musical and hear music performed live by its composer Sting at launch events being held in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Salford and Liverpool.

The launches will give those attending the launches–all of which are being held at particularly evocative locations in the cities in question - the chance to hear from Sting himself about The Last Ship, and what they can expect when the production visits their cities in 2018.