Photo Flash: Maurice Hines and Original Broadway Cast Visit York's DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE

The cast of The York Theatre Company Musicals in Mufti presentation of DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE welcomed the great Maurice Hines, as well as original Broadway company members Ben Harney, Maria Thomas and George Faison, to performances over the weekend. The show played its performance on March 6 at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's. Scroll down for photos of Hines and company with the cast!

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and the preservation of musical gems from the past, celebrated musical revues with the season opener of the Winter 2016 Musicals in Mufti Series: DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE, a musical entertainment with by Micki Grant, conceived by Vinnette Carroll.

Directed by Leslie Dockery, and with musical direction by William Foster McDaniel, the eight-member cast featured Jelani Alladin (Ragtime), Darilyn Castillo (It Ain't Nothin But the Blues), Doug Eskew (The Color Purple), Tina Fabrique (Ragtime), Marva Hicks (Motown, The Musical), Devin L. Roberts (The Lion King), Raun Ruffin (The Civil War) and Debra Walton (Storyville).

DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE, a musical entertainment with book, music, and lyrics by Micki Grant and conceived by Vinnette Carroll, was directed by Leslie Dockery. With five 1972 Tony Award nominations (including Best Musical) and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical the same year, the show also won Micki Grant a Grammy Award for best score -- the first female to be so honored. Ms. Grant was also one of the stars of the show, which came to Broadway after successful runs in Washington DC, Detroit, and Philadelphia. The show ran for over two years on Broadway. A dynamic mixture of gospel, jazz, funk, soul, calypso, and soft rock, the show illuminates the African-American experience with vibrant song and dance. DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE is the first Broadway musical written entirely by a woman and the first Broadway production to be directed by a female African-American.

Photos courtesy The York Theatre Company.

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