Theater
Colman Domingo is the author of Wild with Happy (Dramatists Play Service), A Boy and His Soul, Up Jumped Springtime, and The Brothers.
The Brother(s) | Play
Adapted by Colman Domingo | Based on a 2006 Pushcart Prize winning short story by Lysley Tenorio
World Premiere | November 2018 at Z Space
The Brother(s) is a new play by Colman Domingo about the courage it takes to love your family as they are, and not who you want them to be. With a lively trans chorus and a dynamic set design, the entire space will shift quickly from location to location, bringing the story's glittering spectacle to life. Beneath the excitement of the production’s sudden shifts and turns lies an intimate relationship between the protagonist, Edmond, and his mother. The death of an estranged younger sibling presents Edmond and his Ma with a choice: to cling to the memory of "Eric," their little brother and son, or to accept Erica's true identity.
SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical | Libretto
Recipient of the 2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award
(Co-written with Robert Cary, and Des McAnuff)
SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL North American Tour Dates Announced (click here for more info)
World Premiere | November 7 - December 17 at LaJolla Playhouse (Click here for more info)
This vibrant, world-premiere musical charts the incomparable life of Donna Summer, the undisputed Queen of Disco, from her modest Boston childhood to international stardom. Told through the dramatic lens of her final concert, SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musicalpresents the complexities and conflicts the iconic songwriter and singer faced in her meteoric rise – and descent. Featuring three actresses in the title role and a score with more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits including “Love to Love You, Baby,” “Bad Girls” and “Hot Stuff,” this electric experience is a moving tribute to the voice of a generation.
Ariana DeBose and Company in SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical
Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole | Libretto
Supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
(Co-written with Patricia McGregor)
World Premiere | October 11-December 3, 2017 at People's Light Theatre (Click here for more info)
West Coast Premiere | February 5-March 10, 2019 at the Geffen Playhouse (Click here for more info)
When his groundbreaking NBC variety show failed to attract a national sponsor, Nat “King” Cole famously declared that “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.” In this theatrical exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat as he faces his final Christmastime broadcast, and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to “go out with a bang.” This world premiere, replete with hits and holiday standards like “Nature Boy,” “It’s A Good Day,” “Unforgettable,” and “Joy To The World,” also features appearances by Eartha Kitt and Peggy Lee.
Dulé Hill in Lights Out: Nat King Cole
Dot | Play
World Premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville | March 2015 (Click here for more info)
The holidays are always a wild family affair at the Shealy house. But this year, Dotty and her three grown children gather with more than exchanging presents on their minds. As Dotty struggles to hold on to her memory, her children must fight to balance care for their mother and care for themselves. This twisted and hilarious play grapples unflinchingly with aging parents, midlife crises, and the heart of a West Philly neighborhood.
Marjorie Johnson as Dotty in the Vineyard Theatre's production of DOT
Wild With Happy | Play
World Premiere at The Public Theatre | October 2012 (Click here for more info)
WILD WITH HAPPY explores the surreal, bizarre and outrageous comedy that lies in everyone’s search for answers as they try to deal with death and healing when a young man named Gil plans to scatter his mother’s ashes in the place where she was the most happy. WILD WITH HAPPY is the winner of 3 AUDELCO awards for Best Dramatic Production of The Year, Best Playwright, and Best Supporting Actress and nominated for 2 DRAMA DESKS, 2 LUCILLE LORTEL and A HENRY HEWES DESIGN AWARD.
(L-R) Sharon Washington as Aunt Glo and Colman Domingo as Gil in the Public Theater's production of WILD WITH HAPPY
A Boy and His Soul | Play
World Premiere at The Vineyard Theatre | September 2009 (Click here for more info)
Where do you get soul? From the kitchen rotary phone cord your sister stretched out nine feet? From never learning the real secrets of your crazy cousin until you were older? From the broken Easy Bake oven your brother used to torment your sister’s Barbie dolls? Or from the memory of watching your parents sell the house you grew up in? Maybe you get soul from listening to the music on WDAS FM with your mother in the backyard at midnight on a hot summer evening. From Stevie, Aretha, Marvin, Chaka, Barry, Gladys…and Colman. A Boy and His Soul is the winner of the 2012 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show Off-Broadway, GLAAD Media Award for Best Production in New York, Broadway and Off-Broadway, and Drama Desk, Drama League and Audelco nominations for Best Performance.
Colman Domingo in the Vineyard Theatre's production of A Boy and His Soul
Up Jumped Springtime | Play
World Premiere at Theatre Rhinoceros in association with AFROBLUESOULPOWER | May 1998
A sexy whirlwind trip through the experiences of young gay African-American men. Through stories, poems and music, Springtime tells stories of coming out and coming to terms with homosexuality within the African American community. Stories of gender identity and committed love, issues of family acceptance and rejection, death and dying and identification with African- American icons from Billie Holiday to Gladys Knight, all weave a wonderful tapestry of gay black imagination and observation.