Rare! 1975, Theatre Program, Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera, Nikos Kourkoulos

The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) is a German “play with music” by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay‘s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, and four ballads by François Villon, with music by Kurt Weill. Although there is debate as to how much, if any, contribution Hauptmann might have made to the text, Brecht is usually listed as sole author. The work offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on August 31, 1928 at Berlin’s Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. With influences from jazz and German dance music, songs from The Threepenny Opera have been widely covered and become standards, most notably The Ballad of Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny.