A night at the opera with Mr. Boombastic & The Police-man

Twenty-five years ago, if someone had told you the guy who recorded “It Wasn’t Me” would be onstage at New York City’s famed Metropolitan Opera House with the man who sang “Roxanne,” you probably wouldn’t have believed it. This, however, is an actual thing that’s happening Tuesday, as Sting’s musical The Last Ship sails into The Met, after successful runs in Amsterdam, Paris and Brisbane, Australia.

“It’s set in my hometown, I was born in the north east of England on the coast in a shipyard town,” Sting told ABC’s Good Morning America about the musical. “It’s the story of my community and it is a love story. It’s an elegy. It is an allegory, [it has] some great songs — and Shaggy is in it.”

Sting and Shaggy have worked together for years, so when Sting retooled The Last Ship, he brought in his pal to play the mysterious character of The Ferryman, who the rapper says is “really the angel of death.”

“[He’s] the bridge between the present world and the afterlife,” Shaggy says of The Ferryman, who can only be seen by two characters: Sting’s Jackie White and Gideon, the main character.

“But it gives me room to just do Shaggy, because …. I bring the whole sauce, the whole vibe to it, y’know? And Sting likes that.” Sting also likes that Shaggy’s surprising people with his singing voice.

“People are shocked when they hear me [in the show],” says the reggae star, adding that Sting “really pushed” him to use his vocal abilities.

While most musicians would kill for a chance to perform at The Met, Shaggy says for him, “It’s just another show.”

“I’m going out there just rocking it, man, and giving it my best,” he tells ABC Audio. “My main thing is that Sting is beside me, and I gotta show up for him, ’cause he shows up for me.” 

The Last Ship runs through June 14.