THE Last Ship, the great labour of love musical about the Wallsend shipyard by Newcastle singer, songwriter, and musician Sting – with book by Tony winner John Logan and Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Yorkey – is previewing on Broadway from September 29 and officially opens at New York's Neil Simon Theatre from October 26.

Two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello directs alongside British choreographer Steven Hoggett in this touching tribute to the sea-faring world in which Sting grew up with.

The show, which has also been released on an album, features fictional Gideon Fletcher returning to Wallsend after 14 years away to find his shipbuilder father dead, his former love has moved on with her life and the shipyard has closed. One final ship is being completed by defiant workers to symbolise the past setting sail.

Among the cast is fellow Newcastle performer Jimmy Nail with the songs inspired by the distinctive folk music of North-East England, a mixture of Celtic and north Umbrian music, and includes some of the most evocative compositions from the ex-Police frontman, who was christened Gordon Sumner.

Two performances of the The Last Ship songs next year, as part of the Sage Gateshead tenth Birthday Appeal, on April 24 and 25, have already sold out. Sting will be joined on stage by many of the region’s best-loved musicians including fiddle and Northumbrian pipe player Kathryn Tickell and The Wilson Family from Billingham. The show was originally work-shopped with musicians and actors at Newcastle’s Live Theatre and Sting says: "The demise of industry – not only in shipyards like Tyneside and Gdansk, but also great manufacturing centres like Detroit – has been well-documented and the effect of that demise on the identity and future of local communities particularly resonates with me. I've very much looking forward to bringing these songs and stories home."