The Diocese of Lansing recently staged three performances of "Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” featuring Jim Coleman in the starring role under the direction of Leonardo Defilippis.

The play tells the story of the first African American priest, Father Augustus Tolton, and performances were held March 21, 23 and 24 at three different locations.

“Delighted to thank actor Jim Coleman for his powerful performance as Father Augustus Tolton in “Tolton: From Slave to Priest” at Lansing Catholic (High School) yesterday,” Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea said in a tweet after the March 23 event.

The show closed with the production at Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor and had opened at the Catholic Community of St. Jude, the Diocese of Lansing said in a release.

The Notre Dame Federal Credit Union sponsored the public play.

Coleman, who has acted in more than 50 national commercials, played the lead role. Coleman served in the U.S. Army before he moved to Florida and embarked on an acting career. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Roger Parker in the well-known Nickelodeon show, “My Brother and Me,” the biographical sketch put out by Lansing Catholic High School said.

Tolton was born into slavery on a Missouri farm in 1854 and his family eventually settled in Quincy, Illinois, where they continued to face prejudice. Despite the rejection he faced from every seminary in the U.S., Tolton persevered in his desire to become a Catholic priest and was ultimately ordained in Rome. He saw the Catholic Church as a way to combat discrimination and worked tirelessly to serve people of all races, especially former slaves in Chicago.

Tolton died at the age of 43 from heat exhaustion, but his cause for sainthood is moving forward as more people recognize his perseverance, courage and compassion, the Lansing Catholic High School bio said.