"Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" at Penumbra Theatre

A piece of musical theater trivia that I learned several years ago is that the first Broadway musical with book, music, and lyrics written by a woman is the 1973 Tony-nominated Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. It was written by Micki Grant, a Black woman, who also starred in the show (we would have to wait over 50 years for the next Broadway musical with book, music, and lyrics written by a woman who also starred in it - Shaina Taub's Suffs, coming to the Orpheum next month). I couldn't understand why, in 15 years of seeing pretty much everything in #TCTheater, I had never seen this show; no theater company has produced it locally in my memory, and it's never been revived on Broadway after its two-and-a-half-year original run. That glaring omission has finally been rectified with Penumbra Theatre's joy-filled production of this historically significant gem of a musical. It's playing through April 5, and if you're a fan of musical theater history, or just music and/or history in general, do not miss this show.

"Paradise Blue" at Penumbra Theatre

In 2015, Penumbra Theatre produced Dominique Morisseau's Detroit '67, the first of her three-play series known as The Detroit Project, set in her hometown. Now almost ten years later, they're bringing us the second play in the series, Paradise Blue. In between they've produced a few other plays by Morrisseau, and we've seen the final Detroit play Skeleton Crew at Yellow Tree and the Guthrie (directed by Austene Van who was in Detroit '67). So if you're an avid #TCTheater goer, this is your long-awaited chance to complete this trilogy. But don't worry if you haven't seen any of the others; the three plays are stand-alone, set in different decades and featuring different characters and storylines. But what they have in common is the beautifully real and relevant way they explore Black culture in Detroit specifically, and in America as a whole. From the 1967 Detroit Riot, to the closing of an auto plant in the late aughts recession, and in this play - a jazz club in the late '40s. A fantastic cast and stunning design bring this powerful story to vivid life on Penumbra's stage, continuing through March 9.