Sopranos Star Imperioli Steps into Ponies
by Broadway Staff • Oct 26, 2004
Recent Emmy winner Michael Imperioli is stepping into the off-Broadway production of Mike Batistick's Ponies, which is being produced by his theater company, Studio Dante. Imperioli will begin performances in the show on October 27, taking over for original cast member Otto Sanchez, who left the production to begin work on a film.
Imperioli won a 2004 Emmy Award for his performance as Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos. Imperioli opened the 60-seat Studio Dante Theatre to present new works. He serves as the artistic director of the company with wife Victoria Imperioli. As an actor, Imperioli's stage credits include Aven' U Boys, Displaced Person, Half Deserted Street, The Writing on the Wall and Little Blood Brothers.
Imperioli won a 2004 Emmy Award for his performance as Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos. Imperioli opened the 60-seat Studio Dante Theatre to present new works. He serves as the artistic director of the company with wife Victoria Imperioli. As an actor, Imperioli's stage credits include Aven' U Boys, Displaced Person, Half Deserted Street, The Writing on the Wall and Little Blood Brothers.
Ponies centers on Drazen John Ventimiglia, another Sopranos star who, thousands of miles from his war-torn native Croatia, spends his days betting on horses at a Lower East Side OTB. His friend Ken Babs Olusanmokun, a Nigerian no longer welcome in his own country, joins him. Drazen wants to help Ken win at the ponies, to help make the payments on his brand new livery cab. Both men quickly discover that no matter what part of the world you come from, America can be a dangerous place.
The show, which was announced to run through November 6, will now extend through November 20 with Imperioli.