| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 31 August 1928[26]Conductor: Theo Mackeben |
|---|---|---|
| Macheath ("Mackie Messer"/"Mack the Knife"), London's greatest and most notorious criminal | tenor/baritone | Harald Paulsen |
| Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the "Beggar's Friend",controller of all the beggars in London; conspires to have Mack hanged | baritone | Erich Ponto |
| Celia Peachum ("Frau Peachum"), Peachum's wife; helps him run the business | mezzo-soprano | Rosa Valetti |
| Polly Peachum, the Peachums' daughter; after knowing Mack for only five days, agrees to marry him | soprano | Roma Bahn |
| Jackie "Tiger" Brown, Police Chief of London and Mack's best friend from their army days | baritone | Kurt Gerron |
| Lucy Brown, Tiger Brown's daughter; claims to be married to Mack | soprano | Kate Kühl |
| Jenny ("Spelunken-Jenny"/"Low-Dive Jenny"/"Ginny Jenny"),a prostitute once romantically involved with Macheath; is bribed to turn Mack over to the police | mezzo-soprano | Lotte Lenya |
| Filch, a misfit young man who approaches the Peachums in hopes of beggar training | tenor | Naphtali Lehrmann |
| Street Singer ("Moritatensänger"), sings 'The Ballad of Mack the Knife' in the opening scene | baritone | Kurt Gerron |
| Smith, a constable | baritone | Ernst Busch |
| Walter | tenor | Ernst Rotmund |
| Matthias | tenor | Karl Hannemann |
| Jakob | tenor | Manfred Fürst |
| Jimmie | tenor | Werner Maschmeyer |
| Ede | tenor | Albert Venohr |
| Beggars, gangsters, whores, constables |
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