| Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope | |
|---|---|
 Original cast recording | |
| Music | Micki Grant |
| Lyrics | Micki Grant |
| Book | Revue |
| Productions | 1971:Washington, D. C. 1972:Broadway 1972:Mark Taper Forum,Los Angeles |
| Awards | 1972:Outer Critics Circle Award |
Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope is a musicalrevue first staged in 1971 with music, lyrics and book byMicki Grant.[1] It was originally produced byEdward Padula.
The all-singing, all-dancing show focuses on the African-American experience with songs on such topics as tenements, slumlords, ghetto life, student protests, black power, and feminism. The music is a mixture of gospel, jazz, funk, soul,calypso, and soft rock.
The show had its first staging atFord's Theatre in Washington, D.C. from September 15 to October 10, 1971,[2] with subsequent stagings at the Locust andWalnut Street Theatres in Philadelphia.
The restaged Broadway production, directed byVinnette Carroll and choreographed byGeorge Faison, opened to acclaim on April 19, 1972, at thePlayhouse Theatre, where it ran for two months before transferring to theEdison. It had a total run of 1065 performances. In his review of the opening night,Clive Barnes ofThe New York Times described it as "a mixture of a block party and a revival meeting" and wrote: "It is the unexpected that is the most delightful. Last night at the Playhouse Theater a new musical came clapping, stomping and stamping in. It is fresh, fun and black ...Black heroes such asFlip Wilson andGodfrey Cambridge, and evenBella Abzug andRalph Nader are mentioned and the show makes wry mockery of the changing times and celebrates the rise of black aspiration and achievements ... the show is full of talent working together with a cohesion rarely encountered outside the dance world."[3]Time magazine theater critic T.E. Kalem also praised the show, writing: "all heaven breaks loose on stage. This is the kind of show at which you want to blow kisses."[4]
The cast included Micki Grant,Alex Bradford,Hope Clarke, andArnold Wilkerson. With Vinnette Carroll as director,Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope became thefirst Broadway play to be directed by an African-American woman, and Micki Grant was the first woman to write both the music and lyrics to a Broadway musical.[5]
The 1972 Los Angeles production featuredPaula Kelly.
An original cast recording was released on thePolydor label in 1972, produced byJerry Ragovoy.[6][7]
In 2016 theYork Theatre Company staged a limited engagement ofDon't Bother Me, I Can't Cope with 10 performances between February 27 and March 6.[4]
In July 2018, the show was revived in the Encores! Off-Center season at New York City Center, choreographed and directed bySavion Glover.[8][9][10]