Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, 1972

The run closed October 27, 1974

Opened

April 19, 1972

Closed

October 27, 1974

Performances

1,065

Previews

Unknown

Theatre

Playhouse Theatre

Of the 589 productions we hold that opened in the 1970s and carry a performance count, this is the 21st longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.

Who was in it29 named

Alberta Bradford
Thommie Bush
Charles Campbell
Gerald G Francis
Leona Johnson
D Morris Brown
Damon Evans
Bobby C Ferguson
Rhetta Hughes
Pat Lundy
Andy Torres
Barbara Alston
Robalee Barnes
Chuck Cissel
Ronald Dennis
Billy Dorsey
Signa Joy
Robert Melvin
Joni Palmer
David Pendleton
Mabel Robinson
Juliet Seignious

7 of these 29 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 22 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name, so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.

Creative team

Director

Vinnette Carroll

Choreographer

George Faison

Producer

Edward Padula & Arch Lustberg

A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.

Around this production

• Among criteria for selection were length of run (all book musicals remaining over 500 performances are here), seminal importance, people involved, uniqueness of approach or subject matter, quality of the score, and general acceptance as a significant work in the field. Broadway revivals were included if they ran longer… Broadway Musicals Show By Show Seventh Edition Stanley Green Cary Ginell, p. 7
• Bradford, Alex Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope Broadway Musicals Show By Show Seventh Edition Stanley Green Cary Ginell, p. 397
• Additional credits include The Connection, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope and Step Lively, Boy. The Broadway Design Roster Designers and Their Credits Owen Bobbi Bibliographies, p. 489
• Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope had a run of 1,065 performances. The Best Musicals From Show Boat To A Chorus Line By Arthur Jackson Foreword By , p. 13
• Micki Grant’s 1972 Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope was a revue exploring inner-city African-American life. Musical numbers about ghetto life, black power and women’s rights spoke to a newly emerging market of hip, young ticket buyers. A History of the American Musical Theatre No Business Like Nathaniel Hurwitz Tay, p. 221

Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.

What this page does not know

• No photograph of this staging.
• No character names. We can say who was in the company and not who they played.
• No recording is held for Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope at all.
• Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.