Both Armitage and Paulus earned Tony Award nominations for their work on the acclaimed Broadway revival of Hair. The production took home the 2009 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Armitage also received a Tony nomination for her work on Passing Strange.

The two will align for the American debut of the opera that will be staged by Paulus at the Cutler Majestic Theatre for four performances only, March 18-25, 2011.

Composed by Tod Machover, with a libretto by poet-laureate Robert Pinsky from a story by Pinsky and Randy Weiner, the work will first premiere in Monaco in September. Death and the Powers is a co-production with Chicago Opera Theater and Opera Boston.

Gil Rose will conduct the opera that will have production design by Alex McDowell and lighting design by Donald Holder.

According to A.R.T., "When the eccentric patriarch Simon Powers downloads himself into The System, his entire house comes to life around his family and friends. A groundbreaking new production developed by the MIT Media Lab in partnership with the A.R.T., Death and the Powers explores what we leave behind for the world and our loved ones, using specially designed technology and an expressively animated stage, including a chorus of robots and a musical chandelier."

Visit AmericanRepertoryTheater. A.R.T. is located at 64 Brattle Street in Cambridge, MA.