Sting says it's a 'privilege' his bio-opera will be staged at the Met in NYC

Record ID: 2365541

  • Title: Sting says it's a 'privilege' his bio-opera will be staged at the Met in NYC
  • Date: 16th March 2026
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 11, 2026) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSICIAN, STING, SAYING: "I don't think people expect that I'm going to do the same thing year in, year out. I'm always looking for novelty. I'm looking for new ideas to transmit. I think that's what my job is, rather than reproducing some historical museum artifact, which is dead. I want to
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Metropolitan Opera House Opera Sting The Last Ship The Met
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Music,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA006330812032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ahead of bringing his highly personal musical "The Last Ship" back to life, pop musician Sting said he "did not take it for granted" that the show would helm arguably the grandest stage of them all - the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
    Dressed in his character's denim workwear overalls, Sting spoke to the media within the same Opera House on Wednesday (March 11). The show will see a limited run this summer from June 9 to 14, 2026.
    "To be allowed to have the privilege of walking on this stage that [Luciano] Pavarotti graced, Maria Callas graced, I do not take this for granted. This is an immense privilege," he said.
    Indeed, the performance will mark the first time a Broadway show will be performed at the Met. And according to Sting, the grandiosity of the Met's stage is well-suited for the shipyard set. 
    But the staging is an unlikely outcome for "The Last Ship." 
    The show first played on Broadway in 2014 and opened to mixed reviews, with Sting winning praise for his foot-stomping, melodic score. However, critics found the story about a shipbuilder's son who returns home after 15 years to a town hit by recession and a former girlfriend who has moved on, tangled.
    "We're reproducing the town I was born and raised in, which is a shipyard town on the northeast coast of England, and recreating the community that spawned me. And so in many ways it's a way of saying thank you to my community, telling their story in a noble way, and I feel very much as a psychological rebalancing for me. I escaped to have this life, this you know, fantastic international life. I needed to go home and say thank you."
    But the show closed after an initial four-month run on Broadway.
    In bringing back the show after more than a decade, Sting has been sure to update the production. There's a new director, new songs, and significantly, the artist himself will feature prominently in the cast. 
    "I've been writing this for 12 years now. It's been evolving in all of that time. I think we're in a very good place at the moment with the songs," he said. "I've got a great cast and I'm in it, which I never intended to be in in the first instance. I'm thoroughly enjoying playing this role and I am very proud of my piece."
    (Production by: Andrew Hofstetter, Dan Fastenberg)
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