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Cast Revealed for 'The Last Ship' at the Ahmanson

CASTING REVEALED FOR THE NATIONAL TOUR OF “THE LAST SHIP” STARRING STING

THE SHOW MAKES ITS LOS ANGELES DEBUT AT CENTER THEATRE GROUP/AHMANSON THEATRE JANUARY 14 THROUGH FEBRUARY 16, 2020

Full casting for Sting’s acclaimed musical, “The Last Ship,” has been announced. Tickets are currently on sale for the premiere Los Angeles engagement at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. To purchase tickets, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org, call Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or visit the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012). Ticket prices start at $35.

The limited five-week engagement of “The Last Ship” will begin performances on January 14 and will play through February 16, 2020 at the Ahmanson Theatre. The opening is set for Wednesday, January 22 at 8 p.m.

Seventeen-time Grammy Award®-winner Sting will star as shipyard foreman, ‘Jackie White,’ and will perform the role at every performance. He is joined by Frances McNamee as ‘Meg,’ Jackie Morrison as ‘Peggy White’ and Oliver Savile as ‘Gideon Fletcher.’

The remainder of the entirely British cast includes Marc Akinfolarin, Joe Caffrey, Matt Corner, Susan Fay, Orla Gormley, Annie Grace, Sean Kearns, Oliver Kearney, David Muscat, Tom Parsons, Joseph Peacock, Sophie Reid, Hannah Richardson and Jade Sophia Vertannes.

The company is appearing with the support of Actor’s Equity Association.

For more information on the production and a video sneak peek, please visit thelastshipmusical.com

Inspired by Sting’s 1991 album, “The Soul Cages,” “The Last Ship” tells the story of Gideon, a prodigal son returning home after 17 years at sea to find that the local shipyard his town was built around is closing and Meg, the love he left behind, has moved on. Tensions flare and picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White (Sting) rallies the workers to take over the shipyard and build one last ship in the face of the gathering storm.

A love story, a tale of family and friendship, and a passionate homage to the shipbuilding community Sting grew up in, this “thrilling and stirring musical" (The Guardian) features a Tony-nominated original score by Sting including some of his best-loved songs “Island of Souls,” “All This Time” and “When We Dance.”

Completely reimagined since its Broadway debut in 2014, “The Last Ship” has thrilled audiences across the UK and in Toronto and has been described as “uplifting, intimate, heart-breaking and universal." (The Stage.)

“The Last Ship” has a new book and direction by incoming artistic director of the National Theatre Wales Lorne Campbell; is based on the original book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey; has set design by 59 Productions, the multi award-winning studio behind the video design of the London 2012 Olympic Games, “Les Misérables” and “War Horse”; musical supervision and orchestrations by Emmy Award-winning, Drama Desk, Tony and Grammy nominated arranger/composer/producer Rob Mathes whose credits include arrangements for “The Greatest Showman” and work with the biggest names in music including Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, Jay-Z, Aretha Franklin and many more; musical direction by Richard John; costume design by Molly Einchcomb; movement direction by Lucy Hind; lighting design by Matt Daw and sound design by Sebastian Frost.

“The Last Ship” is produced by Karl Sydow.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, Managing Director Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

BIOGRAPHIES

STING (Jackie White, Music & Lyrics). Composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author and activist Sting was born in Newcastle, England before moving to London in 1977 to form The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. The band released five studio albums, earned six Grammy Awards® and two Brits, and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

As one of the world’s most distinctive solo artists, Sting has received an additional 11 Grammy Awards®, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, four Oscar nominations, a Tony nomination, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year. In 2003, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his myriad of contributions to music. Also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he has received the Kennedy Center Honors, The American Music Award of Merit and The Polar Music Prize. Sting has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Music by the University of Northumbria (1992), Berklee College of Music (1994), University of Newcastle upon Tyne (2006) and Brown University at its 250th Commencement ceremony (2018).

Throughout his illustrious career, Sting has sold 100 million albums from his combined work with The Police and as a solo artist.

Following his critically acclaimed album, “57th & 9th,” his first rock/pop collection in over a decade, Sting and reggae icon, Shaggy released a collaborative, island-influenced album, entitled “44/876,” drawing from the many surprising connections at the heart of their music. With its title referencing their home country codes, “44/876” first and foremost honors the duo’s mutual love for Jamaica: Shaggy’s homeland, and the place where Sting penned such classics as The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” Their chart-topping release debuted at #1 in Germany and Top 10 in the UK. It spent over 20 weeks atop Billboard’s Reggae Album chart in the US, earned Gold certifications in Poland and France and received the Grammy Award® for Best Reggae Album.

The duo, both managed by the Cherrytree Music Company, recently reunited to release a new, festive reggae song entitled “Silent Night (Christmas is Coming)” available on all streaming and digital platforms. https://smarturl.it/StingSilentNight

Earlier this year, Sting was honored at the BMI Pop Awards for his enduring hit single “Every Breath You Take,” which has become the Most Performed Song, with 15 million radio plays, from BMI’s catalog of over 14 million musical works.

On May 24, a new album entitled “My Songs,” featuring contemporary interpretations of his most celebrated hits, was released and followed by a world tour of the same name. Sting’s ‘My Songs’ World Tour is a dynamic and exuberant show featuring his most beloved songs spanning the 17-time Grammy Award® winner’s prolific career with The Police and as a solo artist.

The special edition release of Sting’s album, “My Songs” was released November 8 and includes a bonus CD with new live recordings from the My Songs World Tour. A digital album titled “My Songs: Live” containing 11 new live recordings captured along the My Songs World Tour is also available.

Next year, Sting will headline a Las Vegas residency, “My Songs,” set to open at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Friday, May 22, 2020. The show will present a compendium of Sting’s songs with dynamic, visual references to some of his most iconic videos and inspirations.

He has appeared in more than 15 films, executive produced the critically acclaimed “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” and in 1989 starred in “The Threepenny Opera” on Broadway. His most recent theatre project is the Tony®-nominated musical “The Last Ship,” inspired by his memories of the shipbuilding community of Wallsend in the North East of England where he was born and raised. The show, with music and lyrics by Sting, ran on Broadway in 2014/2015 and completed a UK regional theatre tour which ran from March – July 2018. Thereafter, Sting starred as shipyard foreman Jackie White in the Toronto-based production of “The Last Ship” at the Princess of Wales Theatre. He will reprise the role for productions in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre (January 14 – February 16, 2020), San Francisco at the Golden Gate Theatre (February 20 – March 22, 2020), Washington, D.C at the National Theatre (March 27 – April 5), St. Paul, MN at the Ordway Center (April 8 – 19), and in Detroit, MI at the Detroit Opera House (April 22 – 26).

Sting’s support for human rights organizations such as the Rainforest Fund, Amnesty International, and Live Aid mirrors his art in its universal outreach. Along with wife Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Fund in 1989 to protect both the world’s rainforests and the indigenous people living there. Together they have held 19 benefit concerts to raise funds and awareness for our planet’s endangered resources. Since its inception, the Rainforest Fund has expanded to a network of interconnected organizations working in more than 20 countries over three continents.

www.sting.com Instagram: @theofficialsting Twitter: @officialsting Facebook: http://bit.ly/2TU4Y1Z www.cherrytreemusiccompany.com/

FRANCES MCNAMEE (Meg Dawson). Theatre includes “Clybourne Park” (UK Tour), “The Last Ship” (UK Tour/Princess Wales Theatre, Toronto), where she was nominated for UK Theatre Awards’ ‘Best Performance in a Musical’, “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” “The Rover,” “The Christmas Truce,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost, Love’s Labour’s Won” (Royal Shakespeare Company), “A Christmas Carol” (The Old Vic), “Big Fish” (The Other Palace), “Punishment Without Revenge/ A Lady of Little Sense” (Theatre Royal Bath/Arcola Theatre), where Frances was nominated for The Ian Charleston Award, “The Mother” (Kiln Theatre) and “20th Anniversary Gala Performance of Les Misérables” (West End). Television includes “Stigma” (Web Series). Radio includes “Fifteen Minute Live” (Slung Low).

JACKIE MORRISON (Peggy White). Theatre includes “Clybourne Park” (UK Tour), Sicinius Velutus in “Coriolanus” (Royal Shakespeare Company), “The Last Ship” (UK Tour/Princess Wales Theatre, Toronto), “Pygmalion” (Oldham Coliseum), “Clybourne Park” (Rapture Theatre Company), “Abigail’s Party” (Curve Theatre), “This Is Ceilidh” (Speigltent Edinburgh & London), “A Bunch of Amateurs” (Watermill Theatre, Newbury), “Peribanez” (Young Vic Theatre, London), “Oh What A Lovely War!” (The National Theatre/The Roundhouse), “Hay Fever” and “Taking Steps” (Oldham Coliseum), “Celaine” (Hampstead Theatre), “Private Lives” (Oldham Coliseum/Harrogate Theatre), “Sadly Solo Joe” (Greenwich Theatre), “After Mrs Rochester” (Duke of York’s Theatre, West End), “What Every Woman Knows” and “Candida” (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), “Othello” (Watermill Theatre/Japan Tour), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (English Shakespeare Company), “When We Are Married” (Savoy Theatre, West End), “T’is Pity She’s A Whore” (Derby Playhouse), “The Hypochondriac” (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (Strand Theatre, West End). Television includes “Black Earth Rising” (BBC/Netflix), “Coronation Street” (ITV), “Doctors,” “EastEnders,” “Holby City” and “Casualty” (BBC), “Londongrad” (Wind Catcher), “Endeavour III” (Mammoth Screen), “The Commander: Abduction” (La Plante Productions), “Midsommer Murders” (Bentley Productions), “The Bill” (Talkback Thames), “Little Miss Jocelyn” (Channel 4), “Monarch of The Glen” (Ecosse), “Bugs” (Carnival Films), “Clare in the Community” (Tiger Aspect), “Ultimate Force” (Bentley Productions), “Taggart” and “Dr Finlay” (STV), and “Head Over Heels” (Carnival Films). Radio and Recording includes “The Eyes of the Soul,” “The First Person,” “The Child” and “Into Exile” (BBC Radio 4) and “Brigadoon” (EMI). Jackie has toured several musical shows and revues throughout the years, including “Broadway and Beyond,” “Rodgers and Hammerstein-The Show’s The Story,” “Spread A Little Happiness” and “Broadway to Burns.”

OLIVER SAVILE (Gideon Fletcher) trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Theatre includes “The Last Ship” (Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto), Whizzer in “Falsettos” (The Other Palace), Robert in “Company” (AAC), Fiyero in “Wicked” (Apollo Victoria, West End), Hugo in “Knights of the Rose” (The Arts Theatre, West End), Max in “The Navigator” (Phoenix Theatre, West End), Wayne in “LMTO's State Fair” (Cadogan Hall), “Phantom of the Opera” (Her Majesty’s Theatre), “CATS” (UK Tour), “Les Misérables” (Queens Theatre, West End), “Monkee Business” (UK Tour), “Mamma Mia!” (World Tour), “Sleeping Beauty” (Theatre Royal Wakefield) and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (UK tour). Television includes Enjolras in “Les Misérables” (ITV Olivier Awards 2014) and The Rum Tum Tugger in “CATS” (ITV Olivier Awards 2013).

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December 20, 2019