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Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, August 31, 1928[7] (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, he conspires to have Mack hanged | baritone | Erich Ponto |
| Celia Peachum — Peachum's wife, who helps him run the business | mezzo-soprano | Rosa Valetti |
| Polly Peachum — The Peachums' daughter. After knowing Mack for only five days, she 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. Also claims to be married to Mack | soprano | Kate Kühl |
| Jenny ("Ginny Jenny" or "Low-Dive Jenny") — A prostitute who was romantically involved with Macheath in the past. She is bribed to turn Mack in to the police. | mezzo-soprano | Lotte Lenya |
| Filch — The misfit young man who approaches the Peachums in hopes of beggar-training. | tenor | Naphtali Lehrmann |
| The Street Singer — 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 | ||
- Introduction
- Overview
- Performance history
- Roles
- Synopsis
- Selected recordings
- Film adaptations
- References
- Sources
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