Three black comediennes will take the Saturday Night Live stage at some point today to fight for a cast member position opening up this January - and one of them is a noted critic of the show. SNL creator Lorne Michaels decided to break tradition and hire new talent midseason after facing criticism that the sketch-comedy show lacked diversity in its sixth year without a black female cast member. A source at the show revelealed to the New York Daily News that NBC Universal Diversity Scholarship winner Natasha Rothwell, stand-up comic Sasheer Zamata and sketch comic Kerry Coddett were the three women who made the cut for today's auditions. All three women are alumnae of the Upright Citizens Brigade -  an improv troupe founded by SNL alum Amy Poehler. They made the cut after performing in a showcase in New York on December 2.
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Lorne Michaels revealed Thursday that at least one new black female actress will join the cast of Saturday Night Live in January
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Final auditions on the SNL stage in New York were scheduled for today
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NBC University Diversity Scholarship winner Natasha Rothwell, stand-up comic Sasheer Zamata and sketch-comic Kerry Coddett are the finalists
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All three women are alumnae of the Upright Citizens Brigade theater
Four black women: In its nearly 40 years on the air, @placeholder