THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 29, Number 42 Thursday, October 24, 2013 by Andrew Tallackson effrey Seller arrived on stage, greeted Jby applause fi ltering through the sea of journalists, TV crews and Broadway in Chi- cago patrons. Seller, a Tony winning producer whose Broadway credits include “Rent,” “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights,” played off the an- ticipation in the room over “The Last Ship” and its composer. “I only produce a show that I fall in love with,” he said. “If I don’t fall in love with it, I don’t do it. I’m always waiting Continued on Page 2 Sting talks about the origins of “The Last Ship” as Jimmy Nail listens nearby. THE Page 2 October 24, 2013 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. By the time I was 13, The Police, particularly Continued from Page 1 through songs like “Roxanne,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and and biding my time to fall in love again.” “Message in a Bottle” had tapped into the pop main- All it took for Seller was hearing “Shipyard,” the stream without entirely shunning their New Wave fi rst song of “The Last Ship,” and he knew he want- origins. ed to produce it. And with that, he introduced the “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” in particular, cast musical’s composer, who arrived on stage to thun- an entrancing spell. During Christmas break 1983, derous applause. my younger brother and I had our tonsils removed, Sting. a procedure that back then required overnight hos- Former lead singer and bassist for The Police. pitalization. We’d never been in a hospital before Phenomenally successful solo artist. and that night had trouble sleeping: the pain slight, Winner of 16 Grammys, a Golden Globe and an the vulnerability of being away from our parents Emmy, along with several Oscar nominations. paralyzing. “Play something,” my brother said. My Member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and mother had left a small cassette player on the stand Songwriters Hall of Fame. next to my hospital bed. Not knowing what tape The hero of my youth. was inside, I pressed play and “Wrapped Around rowing up in Gary’s Miller Beach neighbor- Your Finger” from The Police’s “Synchronicity” be- Ghood, I was an average kid with no visible as- gan to play. There was something so smooth and piration to be hip or famous, but who secretly lived mysterious about the opening strains, with Sting through Sting because he was the epitome of cool. commanding your attention, beckoning you to lis- ten. “Play it again,” my brother said after the song fi n- ished. We listened to it about four or fi ve times before we realized we’d forgot- ten to be afraid. We were at peace. By 1984, Sting was venturing into movies, most nota- bly in David Lynch’s ambitious, but ulti- mately disastrous attempt to fi lm Frank Herbert’s unfi lmable “Dune.” The scene everyone remembers, howev- er, is when Sting, as Feyd-Rautha, fi rst arrives on screen, stepping out of an apparent steam bath with a crazed look in his eyes, Posters for “The Last Ship” line the exteriors of Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse spiked hair and THE October 24, 2013 Page 3 decked out only in weird sci-fi underwear. I remem- ber thinking at the time, “This movie stinks, but Sting is wild.” By 1985, Sting had ventured on his own with the Meet the company solo album “The Dream of the Blue Turtles,” which who knows tapped into his love of jazz, involved great musi- comfort inside cians like Kenny Kirkland and Branford Marsalis and out. But and produced hit after hit, including “If You Love especially inside. Somebody Set Them Free,” “Fortress Around Your Fall is coming, so put Heart” and “Love Is the Seventh Wave.” your system in top shape before the cooler weather gets here. RECEIVE UP TO $2,500 in rebates* and tax credits** with the purchase of a qualifying Lennox® Home Comfort System. Special OR Financing Available* $74 Tune-Up** Owner Kevin Doler Michael Apted’s “Bring on the Night” (1985), which chronicled Sting’s journey to introduce “The 219-879-8525 Dream of the Blue Turtles” to the mainstream, re- Michigan City, IN mains a great musical documentary for two reasons. Taking Care of Your Family For all the bad press Sting received about having a Has Been My Family Business bloated ego, the movie revealed him as a generous for More Than 60 Years. performer willing to share the spotlight with others, and a family man devoted to his wife, Trudie. It also offered a rare glimpse into the creative process, of Offer expires November 29, 2013 how music evolves into what we hear as the fi nished *Rebate offer is valid only with the purchase of qualifying Lennox® products. System rebate offers range from $300–$2,000. product. See dealer for details. **See dealer for details and visit www.energystar.gov for more information on the tax credit guidelines. Continued on Page 4 © 2013 Lennox Industries, Inc. THE Page 4 October 24, 2013 shipyard’s future threatened and his childhood love Continued from Page 3 engaged to someone else. “These men had a sense of dignity from the ships From then on, Sting released one incredible CD they built,” Sting said. “When the shipyard closed, after another, from “Nothing Like the Sun” (1987), these men were eventually robbed of that sense of to “The Soul Cages” (1991) to “Brand New Day” dignity and self-respect.” (1999), all the while engaging in political and social His vision, then, for “The Last Ship” was to give activism, particularly human rights causes. a voice to those men, as fathers and sons, and espe- o here he was, Oct. 11 at Chicago’s Broadway cially as a community. SPlayhouse (the former Drury Lane theater), in- “I suppose some of it comes from my subcon- troducing his new musical, “The Last Ship,” which scious,” Sting said about the play’s origins. “You re- will have its premiere June 10 through July 13 alize there are elements of the character that may 2014 at the Bank of America Theatre (the former be you. Schubert Theatre) before arriving on Broadway in “I was born in the shadow of a shipyard, an in- the fall. dustrial landscape. Now 62, fi lled with I saw these men go good humor and a to work every day. I humble appreciation of would think, is that my his past and present, destiny too, because I Sting addressed the don’t want to go there. crowd about the play, to So once I started to which he has attracted write, it all started to an impressive array fl ow from there.” of talent: Director Joe What Sting quickly Mantello (“Wicked”), learned is, there is a writers Brian Yorkey world of difference in (“Next to Normal”) and writing a pop song and John Logan (“Skyfall,” writing a Broadway “Hugo”) and choreog- musical. rapher Steven Hoggett “A song can be bril- (“Once”). liant, but if it doesn’t The play, inspired advance the narrative, by Sting’s youth, is it can’t be in the play. set in his hometown, Sting and Jimmy Nail perform a song from “The Last Ship” You need dramatic ten- the English seafaring as producer Jeffrey Seller listens nearby. sion. Some element of town of Wallsend, where the economy was driven the story must have transpired. by the local shipyard. The main character, Gideon “With a pop song, you can express one emotion for Fletcher, leaves in hopes of creating a better life for three minutes. ‘I love you.’ ‘You love me.’ Believe me, himself, but returns 14 years later to discover the I’ve written some of those songs.” Schoolhouse Shop At Furnessville Scary Halloween Stuff 278 E. 1500 N. • Chesterton, IN 46304 (219) 926-1551 Closed Tuesdays THE October 24, 2013 Page 5 That last quip produced a hearty round of laugh- “Why Chicago? That wasn’t arbitrary,” he said. ter from the crowd. And with that, Sting began in- “This show is about working-class people who live troducing music from “The Last Ship,” which can be and die for their town. So, do we go to L.A. or To- heard on a CD of the same name that he released ronto? No. Sept. 24. “It made perfect sense ... that this show would Indeed, the songs are rooted in traditional mu- come to a city as vibrant and alive as Chicago.” sical-theater style, propel- And while Sting, himself, ling the story by conveying Sting and Jimmy Nail won’t appear in “The Last the hopes and dreams of perform the song Ship,” one thing was clear. each character. Sting was “Shipyard.” At 62, his voice is as strong joined on stage by his friend, and vital as ever. Jimmy Nail, beloved in Eng- hortly before Sting left land for his long-running Sthe stage to catch a TV show as a Geordie work- fl ight back home, he put ingman, but in the United “The Last Ship” into per- States probably best known spective, particularly in for playing Agustín Magaldi light of today’s economic in the 1996 fi lm version of troubles.