
Sting (centre) has been appearing in The Last Ship since 9 December
Sting’s Broadway musical is to close on 24 January, after just three months.
Last Ship, the story of unemployed shipbuilders who take over a factory to build a new vessel, opened on 26 October to mixed reviews.
Last month, Sting stepped in to replace leading man Jimmy Nail in a bid to revive flagging ticket sales.
His appearance had a “galvanizing impact”, but producers felt attendance would drop when he left, especially during the slow winter period.
Long-running shows The Lion King, Book of Mormon and Wicked were among the top grossing shows for 2014
News of the closure comes after Broadway theatres reported a record-breaking year for attendance and box-office takings in 2014.
A total of 13.1 million people went to see shows in the heart of New York last year, bringing in $1.36bn (£0.89bn).
The Broadway League, which represents producers and theatre owners, said attendance was up 13 percent and box-office takings up 14 percent.
The week ending Sunday 28 December was the biggest Christmas week in history for the theatre district – but the best-attended and highest-grossing period overall was New Year week.
Long-running shows Wicked, The Lion King and Book of Mormon were among the top grossing shows, with each pulling in more than $2.2 million (£1.45 million) for the New Year week.
In 2015, nearly 20 new shows are scheduled to open on Broadway, including a musical version of the 2003 Jack Black film School of Rock.
It is written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
First up, though, will be Constellations, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, opening on 13 January.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service …read more
Source:: BBC Entertainment