Jimmy Smits, Daphne Rubin-Vega and More to Star in TWO SISTERS AND A PIANO for New Normal Rep

New Normal Rep is continuing with its inaugural season presenting Two Sisters and a Piano, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated playwright Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics). Streaming on demand April 21 - May 23 at NewNormalRep.org, tickets for Two Sisters and a Piano are $25, $10 for students and theater professionals, and can be purchased at NewNormalRep.org.

In addition to previously announced Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winner Jimmy Smits (Anna in the Tropics, "The West Wing," "LA Law"), Two Sisters and a Piano will feature Florencia Lozano (Rinse, Repeat at Signature), Gary Perez (The Motherf**ker with the Hat at Steppenwolf), and Tony Award nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent, Anna in the Tropics).

Set in 1991, during the Pan American Games in Havana and while the Russians are pulling out of Cuba, this play portrays two sisters, Maria Celia, a novelist, and Sofia, a pianist, serving time under house arrest. Passion infiltrates politics when a lieutenant assigned to their case becomes infatuated with Maria Celia, whose literature he has been reading. Two Sisters and a Piano premiered in 1999.

The NNR production of Two Sisters and a Piano marks a theatrical reunion for Nilo Cruz, Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Smits first collaborated with Cruz when he starred in the playwright's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in The Tropics on Broadway in 2004. Rubin-Vega's Tony-nominated turn in that same production followed her performance as Sofia in the 1999 off-Broadway premiere of Cruz' Two Sisters and a Piano at The Public. Rubin-Vega reprises the role in this NNR production.

Two Sisters and a Piano had its world premiere in 1999 at the McCarter Theatre.

"While the play is 20 years old it reflects several themes of our lives today: the pandemic lockdown, the #MeToo movement and the corruption of power," says Nilo Cruz. "I think about how the two sisters in the play escape their captivity through their imaginations, through art, and how similar all of our lives have been this past year."

NNR, New Normal Rep exists not in spite of the pandemic, but because of it. Dedicated to presenting new and lesser known plays, via the internet, NNR will present works with divergent perspectives that explore the historical, cultural, and psychological forces that have helped to shape our 21st Century lives.NNR commits to anti-racism training as well as partnership with BIPOC organizations to ensure that diversity is present in the curation of our seasons and the assembling of our companies. Above all, NNR is dedicated to producing deeply entertaining, engaging and illuminating work.

Following Two Sisters and a Piano, NNR will presentworks by playwrights Julia Blauvelt (Airline Disaster, Youthful Journeys of the World) and Obie winner and Pulitzer nominee Nikkole Salter (In the Continuum, Carnaval). More details to come.

All productions will be streamed on demand at NewNormalRep.org.

"New Normal Rep began with casual conversations at the beginning of the pandemic and expanded into something substantive," says Jack Canfora, Artistic Director. "NNR is a theatre company for our world today. We strive to illuminate and warm, to offer eclectic stories from diverse voices that will intrigue and unite us, and so much more."

"As theater people, we always knew that our craft had value," says Jill Eikenberry, founding artist, NNR. "But since the plague has descended on us and the possibility of theater has been taken away, we have come to understand more deeply our need to tell stories and the audiences need to hear them."

"Online theater is a New Medium with unique challenges, but we also believe it presents unique opportunities," says Sally Kilingenstein-Martell, Executive Producer, NNR. "For too many years, high quality theater has felt out of reach financially and culturally to too many people. New Normal Rep can, in a small way, aims to help in bridging this disconnect by providing affordable, diverse, high quality theater to a literally limitless audience."

The New Normal Rep Board of Directors includes: Jeffrey Bean, Jack Canfora, Jill Eikenberry, Melanye Duschene Finister, Eleanor Handley, Melissa Joyner, Sally Klingenstein-Martell, Maria Gabriella Landers, John Schaeffler, Carol Todd and Carl Vorwerk.

Tickets for upcoming NNR productions are $25, $10 for students and theater professionals, and can now be purchased at www.NewNormalRep.org. A three-play season subscription is available for $75, and includes free access to special programming including live play-readings, special Q&A discussions and virtual happy hours.

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