Video Flash

Flashback Friday: Before Sting Sailed on The Last Ship, He Was Broadway's Mack the Knife

Hear the Grammy-winning singer take on Brecht and Weill’s “Ballad of Mack the Knife” in its original form.

Editorial Staff
New York City

Long before Sting wrote and starred in The Last Ship, which sails away from Broadway this weekend, he was Mack the Knife, the famous character created by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in their musical The Threepenny Opera. Sting made his Broadway debut in a 1989 revival of the classic, which was titled, in that version, 3 Penny Opera and translated from German to English by TheaterMania's own Michael Feingold.

We know from Sting's can-do attitude about starring in The Last Ship that he's willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. So to celebrate that spirit, here's a video of Sting probably going far out of his comfort zone singing the opening of Threepenny Opera, the classic "Ballad of Mack the Knife" — in the original German.

For tickets to see The Last Ship, click here.