Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (NY City Center) NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Ms. Grant’s eclectic music is virtuosically ingratiating...Though the stage is in constant motion throughout, Mr. Glover forbears to knock our socks off or upstage the material with the pyrotechnics we know he is capable of...Not all of his staging concepts are convincing...But the overall effect is never less than delightful...And it is never less than instructive, too, about the way musicals, bookless or not, can turn even the saddest history into beauty."
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“A propulsive evening of music and dance, one that speaks as much to the world of 2018 as it does the 1960s and '70s...Grant's music, played by a kickin' five-piece band, is a generous blend of styles her songs have the kind of rhythms that instantly make us dance in our seats, while her lyrics are intelligent and witty and so warm, without being overly symbolic and heavy...Glover's production is the kind of heart-stopping evening we rarely see these days."
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“Despite updated references to Trayvon Martin, Roseanne Barr and the Obamas, and a significant knee-taking moment, the 75-minute presentation of blues, funk, gospel, calypso and spoken word, presents its themes with that very 1970s mixture of heart-on-sleeve sincerity and arch commentary...James T. Lane brings down the house with a passionate performance...Dayna Dantzler does lovely work."
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"A celebration of African American culture and community...This production has been rearranged into a condensed one-act show, staying true to addressing a range of Black experiences from its original show with a few modern updates...The singing throughout the show was absolutely amazing!...The voices were so strong and soulful from the opening to the closing note. The dancing was a lot of fun to watch...Overall, I say a job well done!"
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“A sassy and spirited rendering...The Encores! Off Center production, under the deft direction of Tony-Award winning Savion Glover...presented a talented cast singing and dancing the message of race politics in America with power and poignancy...The show is also an exuberant celebration of African-American culture and community. An excellent onstage orchestra provided live music...The choreography throughout the show in various styles was equally superb.”
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"Has lost none of its relevance or punch...Savion Glover's direction and choreography tone down the showiness that often marks his solo performances in favor of taking advantage of the strengths of the cast members and meeting the needs of each of the scenes, which flow seamlessly from one to the next...You can go to see this show for its terrific cast...But if you really listen, you will leave with Micki Grant's powerful message ringing in your ears and tattooed to your heart."
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"If there’s one thing Mr. Glover knows how to do, it’s move people around a stage...Aisha de Haas, Dayna Dantzler, Wayne Pretlow and James T. Lane have such incredible voices they should be household names. Marshall L. Davis Jr. didn’t sing a solo note, but his dancing was divine. He was smooth and elegant, loose but controlled. His tapping was extraordinary. But truthfully, I hesitate to single any one person out from the cast because they were all so good."
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“Entertaining enough to feel like a near-religious experience...This musical revue about the African-American experience has a moral center, which is evident before the curtain even rises...First of some two dozen songs, poems, and vignettes sets the tone for the rest of the 75-minute show – bemused and angry, but also amused, buoyant, and hopeful...For all the pointed lyrics threaded through the show, the takeaway tone is exuberance.”
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“75 exuberant minutes...Glover, a preeminent theatrical diarist of the black experience, shepherds this concert mounting, infusing it with an ebullient and percussive energy that captures the spirit of the black power movement...Each song illuminates a different slice of black life...traversing a wide variety of musical styles...What is most striking is Ms. Grant’s prescience in tackling subjects like the gender wage gap and phenomenon of white flight.”
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“A musical steeped in the heavy and heady days of the civil rights movement of the early '70s...A loving revival impeccably directed and choreographed by Glover brings new relevance to this joyful song-and-dance revue that defines the black experience with everything from gospel to calypso to blues...Enormously talented cast...The dancing, from the Charleston to contemporary jazz, is spectacular throughout.”
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“Performed in segments, it all kind of gels, albeit with two exceptions: a supposed riot that apparently required participants to don a beret and the first part of the church segment which seemed to be going nowhere quickly but was soon revived in the segment’s second half...The entire ensemble was brilliant but two performers in particular – Aisha de Haas and Wayne Pretlow – merit special mention for the range and powerful rendering.”
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