THE NORMAL HEART Launches Facebook Rally for Marriage Equality

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that, in anticipation of its Broadway premiere, The Normal Heart will launch a first-ever Facebook Rally beginning today (Monday, March 14). If 10,000 people "Like" the production's Facebook page (Facebook.com/TheNormalHeart) before its April 27, 2011 opening night, The Normal Heart will donate $10,000 to Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples nationwide. Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, which premiered Off Broadway in 1985, dealt with the topic of marriage for gay couples long before it became a hot button political issue, and this production is committed to supporting the fight for equality.

"We are honored to be partnering with the passionate team at The Normal Heart and appreciate their support of our efforts to win the freedom to marry nationwide," said EVan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry. "The Normal Heart portrays a couple struggling with love, commitment, and vulnerability in a life crisis and was one of the first plays to talk about the freedom to marry for gay couples. Stories like this enrich the public conversation about why marriage matters."

The Normal Heart begins previews at the Golden Theatre (252 West 45 Street) on Tuesday, April 19 and opens Wednesday, April 27. This groundbreaking story of love, rage and pride brings together an all-star cast that includes Ellen Barkin as Dr. Emma Brookner, John Benjamin Hickey as Felix Turner, Joe Mantello as Ned Weeks, Lee Pace as Bruce Niles and Jim Parsons as Tommy Boatwright.

The story of a city in denial, The Normal Heart unfolds like a real-life political thriller -- as a tight-knit group of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the press bury the truth of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence. First produced by Joseph Papp at New York's Public Theater, the play was a critical sensation and a seminal moment in theater history. So ahead of its time was this play that many of the core issues it addresses - including gay marriage, the healthcare system and, of course, AIDS - are just as relevant today as they were when it first premiered.

Tickets for The Normal Heart, priced from $26.50 to $116.50, are available via Telecharge.com, by calling (212) 239-6200, or in person at the John Golden Theatre box office (252 West 45th Street). The weekly performance schedule will be Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., Thursday at 8:00 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. (The first performance, on Tuesday, April 19, will be at 8:00 p.m. There will be a special 8:00 p.m. performance on Monday, April 25. There will be no performance on Thursday, April 28.)

The entire company of The Normal Heart is deeply committed to the message of this play, and so, in addition to its pledge to Freedom to Marry, a percentage of the production's weekly profits will be donated to a group of dedicated nonprofit organizations, including The Actors Fund and Friends In Deed, among others. In addition, a special partnership is being created with amfAR.

The Normal Heart will be produced on Broadway by Daryl Roth and Paul Boskind. Additional cast and creative team information is forthcoming.

For more information, visit www.TheNormalHeartBroadway.com.