Normal Heart: Lee Pace & Jim Parsons join cast

Emmy Award nominee Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies") and Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") will make their debut in the Broadway premiere of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by John Gray, playing a limited 12-week engagement at the John Golden Theatre from 19 Apr - 10 Jul 2011, opening on 27 Apr 2011.

Additional casting, along with the complete creative team, will be announced shortly.

The Normal Heart focuses on the early years of the AIDS plague in New York and the criminal silence of America's political and media powers in addressing the issue.

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 (Foundation for Aids Research).

Bios: Lee Pace Off-Broadway credits include 'The Credeaux Canvas' (playwright Horizons), 'The Fourth Sister,' 'Small Tragedy' (Lortel Award nomination) and 'Guardians (Lortel Award nomination.) His films include "Soldier's Girl," for which he was nomianted for a Golden Globe Award for his role as the transgender woman "Calpernia Addams," who falls in love with a soldier. He was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of "Ned - (the Pie Maker)," in the ABC comedy-drama TV series 'Pushing Daisies.'

Jim Parson's has appeared Off-Broadway in 'The Castle,' his regional stage credits include 'Tartuffe,' 'Marie and Bruce,' 'Threepenny Opera,' 'Guys and Dolls,' 'Endgame,' 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' and 'The Cherrry Orchard.' He is best kjnown for his role as "Sheldon Cooper" in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" for which he has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.