Lou Diamond Phillips' BURNING DESIRE Begins World Premiere Tonight in Waterbury

The World Premiere of BURNING DESIRE, a play written by and starring Lou Diamond Phillips (THE KING AND I) will be staged at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, CT. The production, directed by Richard Zavaglia and choreographed by Janine Molinari, begins previews tonight, February 18th, with an official opening set for February 20, 2016. Performances will run through March 13, 2016.

Click here for tickets and additional information.

BURNING DESIRE was presented as a staged reading in New York City at St. Malachy's Church at The Actors Chapel in January 2015.

The play 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.

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.

Lou Diamond Phillips (Lucifer) most recently completed production on the feature The 33 with Academy Award nominated producer Mike Medavoy. On television, Phillips currently stars on the hit drama Longmire, based on the Walt LONGMIRE mystery novels by Craig Johnson.

Phillips is still perhaps best known to audiences worldwide 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 Globe nomination. 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.

Phillips earned 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.'

Photo by Daniel Norwood

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