Cirque du Soleil Composer Benoît Jutras At Work On Rock Opera About Imperial Family of Japan

Composer Benoît Jutras, a frequent contributor to Cirque du Soleil, has revealed that he is currently developing several projects including a rock opera about Japan's Imperial Family.

The project reunites Jutras with two of his Cirque collaborators: Harris Shper and Taylor Jeffs.

The show, which has the Working Title "a??" (10), will follow the family through the end of World War II. According to Jutras, the opera is written to be performed by a gender-fluid, completely Asian company.

"The untold story of the last days of World War II has all the ingredients of a superlative antihero story," Jeffs said. "Reluctant to his position, Japan's Emperor alone had the power to end the darkest period of modern history. What effect does the weight of that power have on an individual?"

"As the world's theaters begin to re-open, we need to give our audiences incentive to return and re-discover the power of live performance," Jutras said. "When musical theater works, it's a high that lasts a lifetime. My collaborators and I are excited to make our contribution to this great medium."

Jutras most recently composed the score of the new Cirque du Soleil/Disney mega production at Disney World Orlando.

Over the past thirty years, Benoit has been one of the principal composers and musical director of Cirque du Soleil.

Over the years, Benoit has sold more than 2 million albums. "O" was certified gold in the United States with US sales of more than 500,000 copies. On his debut album, Josh Groban sang a version of, "Let Me Fall" from Quidam. The album was certify quadruple platinum in the United States, with sales of more than 4 million copies.