With filming set to start this week in New York, 'CSI: NY' actor Hill Harper announced via Twitter that he has signed on to co-star in Tyler Perry's 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.'

The 44-year-old Iowa native joins Omari Hardwick, Isaiah Mustafa, Richard Lawson and Khalil Kain as the men in the film.

'Colored Girls' is based on Ntozake Shange's award-winning 1975 play, which consists of a series of poems performed through a cast of nameless women, known only by a color. The characters deal with such subjects as love, abandonment, rape, and abortion.

The play garnered much acclaim, becoming the toast of Broadway when it opened at the Booth Theater in 1976.

The female cast members include Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Jurnee Smollett, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine and Macy Gray.

Mariah Carey recently dropped out of the film due to her doctor's recommendation. No further explanation was given.

A veteran of numerous independent films such as Spike Lee's 'Get on the Bus,' 'The Visit,' 'Lackawanna Blues' and the forthcoming 'Mama, I Want to Sing!' Harper has been playing the role of Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on 'CSI: NY' since 2004. For his portrayal, he has won an NAACP Image Award three years in a row (2008-2010) for outstanding actor in a drama series.