Tim Daly of ABC's 'EYES' to Star in New Play at Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante

Emmy Award winner Michael Imperioli and his wife Victoria Imperioli will present Henry Flamethrowa, a new play by John Belluso, beginning performances May 11th at Studio Dante (257 West 29th Street). Nick Sandow directs a cast that includes Tim Daly (currently starring on ABC's new series "Eyes"), Yvonne Woods, and Jake M. Smith. Performances continue through June 4th only.

Loosely based on a true story, HENRY FLAMETHROWA tells the story of sixteen-year-old Henry, a confused and emotionally isolated young man who writes letters to the Devil, unbeknownst to his deeply religious father, Steven. Henry's younger sister Lilja lies silent in a coma from a mysterious childhood accident in the family swimming pool. For a number of years, Lilja has been visited by miracles. The sick have begun flocking to this silent child's bedside, praying to be healed, and hundreds claim that their prayers have been answered because of Lilja. When a reporter from NPR, Beth, comes into the house to do a story about Lilja and her miracles, Henry opens up to her and confesses that he plans to disconnect Lilja's breathing ventilator and allow her to die. Beth must then decide whether she should expose Henry's plan. Along the way Beth must confront her own assumptions about Faith, Spirituality, and the intrinsic value of human life.

John Belluso was born in Warwick, RI and currently lives in Los Angeles. He was the NEA/TCG playwright-in-residence at Trinity Rep and a Resident Artist at the Mark Taper Forum. He is the recipient of recent awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Berrilla Kerr Foundation. His other awards include the Mark Taper Forum's Sherwood Award for Emerging Theatre Artists, the VSA-Arts Playwright Discovery Award, an artist residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts, the John Golden Playwriting Prize, and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program's Graduate Playwriting Award. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program, where he studied with Tony Kushner, John Guare, Tina Howe, and Eduardo Machado, among others. John collaborated with legendary theatre director Joseph Chaikin and composer Elizabeth Swados on a theatre piece about the experience of disability.

Tim Daly has been able to transcend his leading-man image to portray an extensive range of characters in all media, broadening a career already rewarded with Broadway triumphs and a wide spectrum of film and television roles. He recently finished co-directing (with acclaimed cinematographer Clark Mathis) his directorial debut, Bereft, starring Vinessa Shaw, Marsha Mason, Edward Herrmann, Tim Blake Nelson and Michael C. Hall. He also recently served as producer for Edge of America, the tale of a girls Native American Indian basketball team and their cultural struggles. Daly was last seen in a guest-starring role of J.T. in "The Sopranos." Prior to that he appeared as a struggling sports reporter in the Charles S. Dutton directed feature, "Against the Ropes," with Meg Ryan and Tony Shalhoub, based on the life of Jackie Kallen. He also appeared in the feature suspense thriller Basic, with John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson.

Before these two films, he was seen in the Showtime telepic "The Outsider," opposite Naomi Watts. Another recent success was his portrayal of Richard Kimble in the remake of the hit series "The Fugitive." Daly's creative palette includes a wide scope of projects, including his portrayal of Dan White, the 1978 assassin who murdered San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk, and Mayor George Moscone in Showtime's drama "Execution of Justice." He also served as executive producer on the project, which won the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie. He later played a lead role in the ABC miniseries Stephen King's "Storm of the Century," co-starred in the romantic comedy Object of My Affection, with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, and played the legendary astronaut Jim Lovell in Tom Hanks' HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon." He is best known for his work on NBC's landmark series "Wings," where for eight seasons he portrayed airline pilot Joe Hacket. His first leading film role was in the now classic Diner, directed by Barry Levinson. Starring roles soon followed in Alan Rudolph's feature Made in Heaven, the American Playhouse production of "The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket" and the CBS dramatic series, "Almost Grown." In theatre he has starred in the Broadway production of Coastal Disturbances, Oliver, Oliver at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Mass Appeal and Bus Stop at Trinity Square Repertory, The Glass Menagerie at the Santa Fe Festival Theatre, A Knife in the Heart and A Study in Scarlet at the Williamstown Playhouse, and Paris Bound at the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

Yvonne Woods's theatre credits include Franny's Way (Playwrights Horizons); Goodnight Children Everywhere, A.C.T.; Madame Melville, Promenade Theatre; Life's A Dream, Court Theatre; Left, NY Stage & Film; Slag Heap, Cherry Lane Alternative; and Apparition, SOHO Rep, among others.

Jake M. Smith was born and raised in Queens; his mother was an actress so at a very young age he became a world traveler. He then picked up acting for himself, and at the age of thirteen was starring in Cymbeline (Shakespeare in the Park) and soon found himself an agent and his first role in a film. By 15 he had starred in many independent films and guest-starred on television. When he was 18 he starred in his breakthrough role in the movie Holes (2003) as the character "Squid".

Set and costume design will be by Victoria Imperioli, with lighting design by Tony Giovanetti and Rachel Connors.

As part of an ongoing commitment to New York City, Michael Imperioli has opened the 60-seat theater, Studio Dante to develop and support new work. For the last decade he has produced, directed and acted on the New York stage. Some of his work includes his critically acclaimed performances in Aven'u Boys directed by Fredrick Zollo, Displaced Persons, opposite Martha Plimpton, Half Deserted Street, Seth Zvi's The Writing on the Wall, and Little Blood Brother. He recently won the Emmy Award for his work on "The Sopranos." His wife Victoria studied architecture and design at The School of Visual Arts, NYC, while also attending classes at NYU. She has been involved in various projects in both Europe and the US since the early '90s. Victoria has developed a distinct and often admired style of her own. Her work has recently been featured in Architectural Digest Magazine. Studio Dante is just the latest installment of her work. Michael previously directed Baptism by Fire at Studio Dante.

Tickets for Henry Flamethrowa can be purchased by calling Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or by visiting www.ticketcentral.com Tickets will be $40. Performances will be Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM, with Saturday matinees at 3 pm.

For more information, visit www.studiodante.com.