'Passing Strange's' Colman to Direct 'Single Black Female'

New Professional Theatre -- the New York-based company that is home to minority playwrights and theatre artists -- presents the limited Off-Broadway return engagement of Lisa B. Thompson's SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, a comedy about single black women and their search for love, dignity and clothes, directed by Colman Domingo, who's currently on Broadway in the new musical PASSING STRANGE. Previews begin June 10 prior to an official press opening of June 12 at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan.

Lisa B. Thompson's SINGLE BLACK FEMALE takes a comic look at the pleasures and perils of being a single middle class black woman who's got everything she wants and needs except more R-E-S-P-E-C-T -- and a man!  The play mines topics such as dating (on the Internet and the old-fashioned way!), gynecology, family gatherings, shopping, racial bias, white folks and, poignantly, the odd sense of loss a black woman feels when she does find a man and leaves her single sisters behind.

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE costars Soara-Joye Ross and Riddick Marie. The production has scenic design by Tim Mackabee, costume design by Raul Aktanov, lighting design by Russell Phillip Drapkin, and sound design by DJ Crystal Clear.

Soara-Joye Ross recently appeared in JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA at Carnegie Hall, Off-Broadway in Lincoln Center's critically acclaimed Dessa Rose and on Broadway in DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. Riddick Marie's credits include New Repertory Theatre's world premiere of Thomas Gibbons' A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS and starred in the International tour of Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT under the direction of Niky Wolcz, and in the 2005 Metropolitan Opera production of FAUST. Director Colman Domingo, whose acting credits include HENRY V at The Public and BRIGHT IDEAS at MCC, in addition to PASSING STRANGE on Broadway, has directed productions at Geva Theatre and the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Rep.

Playwright Lisa B. Thompson is an English professor at the State University of New York at Albany where she teaches courses on African American literature and culture. Ms.Thompson is the author of SINGLE BLACK FEMALE (Nominee for 2005 LA Weekly Theatre Award for best comedy); MONROE; DREADTIME STORIES: ONE SISTA'S HAIR, and her newest play UNDERGROUND.

New Professional Theatre (NPT) was founded by Sheila K. Davis to empower, sustain and advance the careers of minority playwrights and theatre artists. This institution is unique and as such must continue to fulfill its core mission to empower and sustain minority theater writers so that people of all races can benefit from a truly diverse theatre. NPT strives to be the internationally acknowledged, foremost incubator for and producer of minority playwrights and other theatre professionals. Past productions presented by NPT include COMING APART TOGETHER and the musical THE IN GATHERING.

Performances of SINGLE BLACK FEMALE run June 10 through June 29 at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 West 42nd Street), Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm. Tickets are $30 and can be reserved by calling 646-223-3010 or online at www.dukeon42.org.

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