Sting tries to help his ailing Broadway musical

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sting is hoping his star power can plug up a leaky ship.

The singer-songwriter will play the role of a foreman onstage in "The Last Ship" starting Dec. 9 at the Neil Simon Theatre. The musical, for which Sting supplied songs and lyrics, has been struggling at the box office.

The announcement was made Monday.

The show, with no big stars, brought in only $536,000 last week, less than half its $1,243,000 potential. The theater was 60 percent full.

"The Last Ship" is a semi-autobiographical story about a prodigal son who returns to his northern England shipbuilding town to reclaim the girl he abandoned when he fled years before.

Sting, born Gordon Sumner, drew on his childhood, growing up in Newcastle. He was last onstage on Broadway in 1989's revival of "The Threepenny Opera."

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