The full cast for Northern Stage’s UK première production of Sting’s musical The Last Ship has been announced.
Joining the already announced Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee are Michael Blair (Yard Worker), Joe Caffrey (Billy Thompson), Matt Corner, (Young Gideon & Yard Worker), Marvin Ford (Ferryman & Yard Worker), Orla Gormley (Cathleen & Yard Worker), Annie Grace (Mrs Dees), Sean Kearns (Freddy Newland & Old Joe), Katie Moore (Ellen Dawson), Charlie Richmond (Adrian Sanderson), Parisa Shahmir (Young Meg), Kevin Wathen (Davey Harrison) and Penelope Woodman (Baroness Tynedale).
From the North East are:
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Joe Caffrey is from Wallsend where the play is set and where his Dad worked at Swan Hunter shipyard. His theatre credits include Lee Hall’s Billy Ellliot the Musical in the West End, The Pitmen Painters (on tour) and Cooking with Elvis and Wet House (Live Theatre).
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Kevin Wathen from Newcastle. In 2016 he starred as Jack Carter in Get Carter (Northern Stage) and other theatre credits include Billy Elliot The Musical, Quadrophenia, David Almond’s Skellig at the Young Vic Theatre and What Falls Apart at Live Theatre.
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Matt Corner grew up in Darlington, and his family are originally from South Shields. He recently played Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys (West End and touring).
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Michael Blair is a graduate of the first NORTH training programme at Northern Stage in 2013 where he performed in The Man Who Thought the Moon Would Fall out of the Sky. He is a founder member of The Letter Room. His recent stage roles include Tweedle Dee in Alice in Wonderland (Northern Stage) and Bobby Lockhart in The End of the Road (November Club).
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Charlie Richmond (Adrian Sanderson) was a member of the company when the score from The Last Ship was performed at Sage Gateshead in 2015 with Sting. From Kingston Park in Newcastle, his theatre credits include many appearances as the Comic in the Tyne Theatre panto, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Customs House Bard in the Park) and The Machine Gunners (also Customs House).
Director Lorne Campbell said, “we have brought together a remarkable cast and team of creatives from across the UK with a core of incredible performers from the North East, many of whom are only a generation away from the shipyard workers of the Tyne and the Wear. This personal connection to the project brings an enormous passion and resonance to the company.
“It has been an incredible journey to work with Sting and the rest of the team on shaping a show that hopes to connect to the political musical theatre legacies of Joan Littlewood and John McGrath in telling the story of epic societal change through the lens of those working communities who are always the first to feel its effects.“
The Last Ship runs at Northern Stage from 7 March to 12 April before touring to Liverpool, Birmingham, Northampton, Leeds, Nottingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow York and Salford, where the tour ends on 7 July.