“The Last Ship,” Sting’s debut as a Broadway composer, will close on Jan. Credit Damon Winter/The New York Times The “” will close on Jan. 24 despite an unusual attempt by, its composer, to try to increase ticket sales and spread word about the show by joining its cast last month. Two of the musical’s producers, Jeffrey Seller and Kathryn Schenker, shared the news in an email on Monday night to members of the production and other supporters of “The Last Ship.” “We have been bewildered and saddened by our inability to sustain an audience for this musical that we deeply love,” the producers wrote about the show, which cost $15 million to mount on Broadway and an additional $625,000 or more to run each week. “There are no easy explanations.” A copy of the email was provided to The New York Times on Monday night.

“The Last Ship,” Sting’s debut as a Broadway composer, had been one of the most anticipated new musicals of the 2014-15 theater season, given his talents and high profile as well as its team, including Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello (“Wicked”) and Mr. Seller, a Tony winner for new musicals like “Rent,” “Avenue Q” and “In the Heights.” While Sting’s score drew strong reviews when the musical opened in October, the show’s book — about the lives of shipbuilders and others in a struggling British town — came in for criticism, and ticket sales never took off. Sting went to great lengths through the summer and fall to publicize the show, and then took the surprise step in November of announcing that he would join the cast in a supporting role, of the shipyard foreman. He took over the character from the actor Jimmy Nail, a longtime friend of Sting’s who said he was happy to step aside in hopes that Sting’s drawing power could breathe stronger life into the show. Advertisement When Sting began performances in early December, the show’s box office grosses nearly doubled, and the show continued to sell well — though not phenomenally so, with empty seats at many performances.

The Last Ship is an original musical with music and lyrics by Sting and a book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey. Inspired by Sting's own childhood experiences and the shipbuilding industry in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the musical premiered in the summer of 2014, at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago, before moving to the Neil Simon. Find a 'The Last Ship' Original Broadway Cast - The Last Ship: Original Broadway Cast Recording first pressing or reissue. Complete your 'The Last Ship' Original.

Last week, when some Broadway musicals were setting box office records over the New Year holiday and several others were grossing more than $1 million, “The Last Ship” grossed $953,165 — 77 percent of the maximum possible amount, with 83 percent of seats full. Those would be strong financial statistics in a typical week, but not so much over the prime holiday week of the year with a superstar performer in the cast.

The producers had hoped that the show would catch fire and manage to keep going after Sting’s final performance, scheduled for Jan. But advance ticket sales for later this winter did not build markedly. Without Sting in the cast, the show could not overcome the mixed reviews or woo audiences away from the durably popular musicals from the last season or two (like “Aladdin,” “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder,” “Kinky Boots” and “Matilda the Musical”) or long-running hits. Before Sting joined the show, its producers and investors were losing $75,000 a week — a toll that would likely have resumed (or worse) in February and March, which are usually among the slowest-selling months for Broadway shows.

In their e-mail on Monday night, the producers said they were “heartened that we have been able to share this work with 140,000 theatergoers since our start last summer in Chicago and that Sting’s herculean participation on stage since December 9th has lengthened our run, filled the theater with enthusiastic audiences and helped to burnish ‘The Last Ship’ in the canon of beautiful, original new musicals. Mrskin.com Hacked Pass. Our ability to persevere has helped ensure a viable future for the show in licensing.” Such licensing deals, both nationally and overseas, could help cover at least some of the losses to the show’s investors.