Rheaume Crenshaw, Aisha de Haas, and More Complete Cast of DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE

Encores! Off-Center Co-Artistic Directors Anne Kauffman and Jeanine Tesori today announced final casting for Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, the third production of the Encores! Off-Center season at New York City Center. Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope will star Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Aisha de Haas, James T. Lane, and Wayne Pretlow.

The ensemble includes Alexandria Bradley, Marshall L. Davis Jr., CK Edwards, Jeffry Foote, Shonica Gooden, Nina Hudson, Marla McReynolds, and Amber Barbee Pickens.

Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (1971) is a radical and irreverent protest cycle that laid bare the political issues facing the African American community when it first premiered at the Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. The showcontinued to raise voices for change in its Philadelphia and New York productions through a lively mix of song and dance, and a score by Grant that includes gospel, jazz, soul, calypso, and rock. It ran over 1,000 performances on Broadway, earning four Tony Award nominations, and winning an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album.

Tony Award-winner Savion Glover (Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk) directs and choreographs the Off-Center revival, with music direction by Annastasia Victory.

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New York City Center gratefully acknowledges Series Sponsors, Stacey and Eric Mindich, Stacy Bash-Polley, Luigi Caiola and Sean McGill, Andrew Martin-Weber, Elizabeth and Dean Kehler, and Nathalie and Pablo Salame; with additional support provided by Paula and Ira Resnick.

Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
Jul 25 - 28, 2018
Wed & Thu at 7:30pm, Fri at 8pm, and Sat at 2 & 8pm

Music and Lyrics by Micki Grant
Conceived by Vinnette Carroll
Music Director Annastasia Victory
Directed and Choreographed by Savion Glover
Featuring Alexandria Bradley, Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Marshall L. Davis Jr., Aisha de Haas, CK Edwards, Jeffry Foote, Shonica Gooden, Nina Hudson, Marla McReynolds, Amber Pickens, and Wayne Pretlow

NEW YORK City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The landmark 75th Anniversary Season (2018 - 2019) pays tribute to this rich history and celebrates the institution's singular role in the arts today. For 25 years, City Center's Tony-honored Encores! series has been "an essential New York institution" (The New York Times), and since 2013, the Encores! Off-Center series has featured seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's innovative artists. Dance has also been integral to the theater's mission from the start and programs like the annual Fall for Dance Festival remain central to City Center's identity. Home to a roster of renowned national and international companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (City Center's Principal Dance Company) and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City Center was Manhattan's first performing arts center, founded with the mission of making the best in music, theater, and dance accessible to all audiences. That mission continues today through robust education and community engagement programs, which bring the performing arts to over 9,000 New York City students each year, and the expansion of the theatrical experience to include art exhibitions, pre-show talks, and master classes that offer an up-close look at the work of the great theater and dance artists of our time. NYCityCenter.org

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi