Staged Reading of Lou Diamond Phillips' BURNING DESIRE Set for Actors Chapel, 1/28

BURNING DESIRE, a modern parable written by Lou Diamond Phillips will be presented as a staged reading in New York City at St. Malachy's Church at The Actors Chapel, on Wednesday, January 28th at 8:00 p.m.

BURNING DESIRE is a romantic comedy told in two acts through the puppeterring antics of 'Lucifer,' played by Phillips. Two people, Evan (Cassidy Freeman) and Andrew (Jacob Tyler Moore) who meet and think they have met the love of each other's lives, are taken on a roller coaster ride, masterfully manipulated by the mischevious matchmaker ('Lucifer,') and are faced with the dilemma of receiving true love in exchange for their immortal souls.

"This play is a passion project for me," Says Lou Diamond Phillips, who wrote the play while commuting back and forth on the LIRR while performing on Broadway in THE KING AND I. "I am grateful to The Actors Chapel to be giving this play life and look forward to what comes next."

Directed by Richard Zavaglia this reading of the play is produced by Richard Zavaglia, Mario Maclacuso & John Roney, with consultant Janet Berger and Artistic Director and Resident Playwright, Jo Ann Tedesco.

The play has had numerous high profile actors in the roles of Evan and Andrew over the years with Phillips always portraying Lucifer. Most notably, Brooke Shields and Noah Wylie played Andrew and Evan respectively in a benefit reading at the Coronet Theater in LA as a fundraiser for AIDS Project LA.Michael Urie and Amy Smart played the roles as part of the Bruno Kirby Reading Series at the Hayworth Theater in Los Angeles (directed by Wendie Malick), and Melissa Errico and David Aaron Baker as part of a benefit reading presented by the Roundabout Theater to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.

St. Malachy's Church is located at 239 West 49th Street (between Broadway and Eight) in New York City.

This event is open to the public. Please call St. Malachy's Church/The Actors Chapel for more information: 212-489-1340

Cassidy Freeman (Evan) can be seen as 'Cady Longmire' on seriesLongmire, soon to be on Netflix. She was a series regular on the CW hit,Smallville, and has also appeared onOnce Upon a Time, The Vampire Diaries, Cold Case as well as all three CSI's. She Co-Executive Produced and starred in horror-thriller YellowBrickRoad which premiered at Slamdance,. Other film credits include the lead in the indie feature Don't Look Back, with Lucy Griffiths and Kate Burton, IFC Films comedy Finishing The Game and indie feature, Brahmin Bulls. On stage, summer Shakespeare near Washington DC took her to a NYC staged production of Anthony Minghella's radio play, Cigarettes And Chocolate at the Atlantic 2 Theatre. In LA she starred inThe Maids at the Moth Theatre and continues to be a part of Playhouse West.

Tyler Jacob Moore (Andrew) has become most familiar to television audiences for playing 'Officer Tony Markovich' for the past four years on the Showtime hit Shameless. Tyler started acting professionally on February 27, 2007 on an episode of The Unit. Since then, Tyler He also appeared in ten episodes of the ABC series GCBas 'Pastor John Tudor," guest starred on such series as Revenge, NCIS, CSI: New York and Criminal Minds and most recently, he had a flashy arc on the hit series Once Upon A Time where he played 'Hans,' a character from the Disney
feature Frozen. In addition to his acting, Tyler is a veteran of a foreign war (U.S. Army, Iraq) and also currently a producer at Byline Films.

Lou Diamond Phillips (Lucifer) most recently completed production on the feature The 33 with Academy Award nominated producer Mike Medavoy. The 33 tells the true story of the Chilean miners trapped in the Copiapó copper mine for 69 days in 2010, and Lou stars as 'Don Lucho,' opposite Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche. On television, Phillips currently stars on the hit dramaLongmire, based on the Walt Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson. It will air on Netflix this year. Phillips is still perhaps best known to audiencesworldwide for stealing their hearts in his breakout performance as Ritchie Valens in the 1987 blockbuster La Bamba. He solidified his place in Hollywood with the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and received a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globenomination. In 1996, Phillips co-starred in Ed Zwick's critically acclaimed drama,Courage Under Fire, for which he received strong reviews as well as a Blockbuster Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is also recognized for many of his other notable film credits, including: Steven Soderberg's CHE, Supernova, Hollywood Homicide, Young Guns, The Big Hit, Brokedown Palace and El Cortez. In the midst of great success within the film industry, Phillips took Broadway by storm in 1996 earning a Tony Award nomination, a Theater World Award and a New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut for an Actor for his performance as the 'King of Siam' in the Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, which received eight Tony nominations that year. He also starred in the 2007 national tour of Camelot as 'King Arthur.'

Richard Zavaglia (Director/Producer) is an accomplished Director and veteran actor of stage and screen. He is a graduate of The American Academy ofDramatic Arts, NY. His directing creditsincludes many productions nationwide, most notably LBJ, the one man show starring Laurence Luckinbill at the Fords Theatre in Washington, DC. which raised $75,000 in one night to benefit World Hunger. Mr. Zavaglia was trained for the stage and has performed on Broadway twice starring in Neil Simon'sChapter Two and Passione by Albert Innuarato, directed by Frank Langello.Some of Mr. Zavaglia film credits includeDonnie Brasco with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. Bird Directed by Clint Eastwood. More of his credits can be viewed on IMDB.com. IBDB.com.Facebook and LINKIN.www.richardzavaglia.com. Mr. Zavaglia is proud to be a producing partner with his friend and colleague Lou Diamond Phillips on Burning Desire. A World Premier of his play in NYC is ourBurning Desire.

Tara Giordano (Stage Directions) New York: Serious Money, Lovesong of the Electric Bear, Cigarettes and Chocolate(PTP@Atlantic Stage 2), Citizen Ruth(Minetta Lane), Song for a Future Generation (The Management), The Pinks (Gold No Trade), Lunch (NYMF).UpComing NY: Village of Vale (Invisible Dog), Vinegar Tom (PTP/NYC). Regional:As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre Co.), Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge, Christmas Carol 1941 (Arena Stage), Conference of the Birds, Twelfth Night (Folger Theatre), The Underpants, A Midsummer Nights' Dream, A Year with Frog and Toad (Two River Theatre),Batboy: The Musical (Studio Theatre),Blithe Spirit, Is He Dead?, Anna Karenina (Olney Theatre), Heidi(Imagination Stage; Helen Hayes Award Nomination - Outstanding Lead Actress).FILM: YellowBrickRoad, Ex-Girlfriends. Ms. Giordano holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA from The Academy for Classical Acting.