Dear Colleagues,

To celebrate Kurt Weill’s 125th birthday in 2025, the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch is reviving Pina Bausch’s two-part Brecht/Weill production “The Seven Deadly Sins”, which originally premiered in 1976. Opening in April, this special restaging will feature the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra under the musical direction of Jan Michael Horstmann.

Joining the Tanztheater ensemble on stage will be an outstanding cast of guest performers from Germany and beyond:

Ute Lemper, Melissa Madden Gray, Stephanie Troyak, Mark Bowman-Hester, Sebastian Campione, Simon Stricker, Erika Skrotzki, Steffen Laube and N.N.

Performances: 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 April 2025, Wuppertal Opera House

Booking opens on 14 February 2025 at 10:00 on

pina-bausch.de and the ticket hotline Kulturkarte +49 (0)202 563 7666

This two-part evening of dance features “The Seven Deadly Sins”, based on Bertolt Brecht’s ballet libretto (which was first performed in 1933 in a choreography by George Balanchine at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées), and “Don’t be afraid”, to a collage of iconic songs from The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Happy End, The Threepenny Opera and Berlin Requiem, assembled by Pina Bausch herself. It remains one of the defining milestones in her oeuvre.

Pina Bausch boldly experimented with genres, blending song, dance and the new expressive form of Tanztheater. She broke down traditional artistic boundaries, enabling the dancers in her ensemble to perform as actors and singers.

The result is a Brechtian mix of sharp social critique that oscillates between despair and hope, contrasted with the sheer joy of dance and infused with memories of revues and cabaret.

For its 2025 restaging, the Tanztheater Wuppertal has brought together internationally acclaimed vocal soloists and actors from around the world.

The New York-based artist Ute Lemper is internationally renowned for her interpretations of Berlin cabaret songs, the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, the chansons of Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Astor Piazzolla and others. She has been singing Brecht/Weill all over the world for 40 years and has received critical and public acclaim for her own music, as well as her performances in musicals and theatre productions on Broadway, in Paris, Berlin and London. She has appeared in many films and received numerous awards for her work, including the Adolf Grimme Prize, Bavarian Film Prize, Golden Camera and Gold Film Ribbon. Originally invited by Pina Bausch to perform in the second part of “The Seven Deadly Sins” in 1995, she now takes on the role of Anna 1 in the first part as well.

The Australian singer, performer, multimedia artist and “kamikaze” cabaret artist Melissa Madden Gray, who lives in New York, first appeared in The Seven Deadly Sins in 2008 at Pina Bausch’s invitation. That same year, she captivated audiences at the International Dance Festival NRW with a witty and self-ironic chanson and cabaret evening. In this production, she takes on the role previously performed by Mechthild Großmann in “Don’t be afraid”.

Erika Skrotzki, a seasoned actress with a distinguished career spanning engagements at the Städtische Bühnen Köln, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Theater Düsseldorf, and Schauspiel Bochum, will also appear in “Don’t be afraid”. She has been a familiar presence in numerous television productions (Soko Leipzig, Der Landarzt, and more) and has performed solo chanson programmes since 1984.

Steffen Laube made his debut at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe before working at theatres in Wiesbaden, Koblenz, and Bonn. Since 2004, he has been a freelance actor and director, recognised for over 50 television roles ranging from Tatort to Kika. In 2014, he was honoured with the Monica Bleibtreu Award in the comedy category.

Josephine Ann Endicott, who danced in the original cast, and Julie Shanahan are the rehearsal directors responsible for the restaging, assisted by Çağdaş Ermiş.

With Edd Arnold, Andrey Berezin, Dean Biosca, Emily Castelli, Maria Giovanna Delle Donne, Taylor Drury, Samuel Famechon*, Luciény Kaabral, Reginald Lefebvre, Alexander López Guerra, Nicholas Losada, Babacar Mané*, Eddie Martinez, Blanca Noguerol Ramírez, Melanie Martinez*, Claudia Ortiz Arraiza*, Franko Schmidt, Michael Strecker, Tsai-Wei Tien, Stephanie Troyak, Frank Willens, Tsai-Chin Yu