The original production was not well received. There were reports that cast member Helene Weigel (Brecht's wife) read from a Communist pamphlet on stage, and the production was panned by the German press and closed two days later. Nevertheless, the musical was subsequently produced in Europe, the first time in Munich in 1956. Successive productions included Hamburg in 1957, London in 1965 at the Royal Court Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre (US) in 1972, Oxford and the West End's Lyric Theatre in 1975 and Frankfurt in 1983, along with a 1977 German film version.