The Who’s guitarist Pete Townshend is penning a new rock musical called “Floss” that is anticipated to debut in 2011. Townshend is in talks with producers in New York to stage the production.

“‘Floss’ is an ambitious new project for me, in the style of ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia,'” Townshend wrote in his blog on the band’s official Web site. “In this case the songs are interspersed with surround sound ‘soundscapes’ featuring complex sound effects and musical montages. It will be a son-et-lumiére musical piece, intended for outdoor performance or arenas.”

According to Townshend, several of the project’s more conventional songs will be recorded on a forthcoming Who album in 2010. The Who’s last album was 2006’s “Endless Wire.”

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Townshend says “Floss” touches on the current issues faced by the Boomer generation — an uneasy relationship with their parents, children and grandchildren.

The “Floss” storyline centers around a couple who encounter problems in their marriage. Walter, a clean-cut pub rock musician, becomes wealthy after one of his songs becomes the TV anthem of a large car company. He becomes a house-husband while his wife Floss focuses on the riding stable and horses.

“When [Walter] tries to return to music after a 15-year hiatus, he finds that what he hears and what he composes evoke the ecologically rooted, apocalyptic mindset of his generation,” wrote Townshend. “Shaken by this and torn by personal difficulties, he and Floss become estranged. A series of dramatic events in a hospital emergency ward bring them both to their senses.”

Townshend continued, “As a 19 year old — with ‘My Generation’ — I wrote the most explicitly ageist song in rock. At 64, I now want to take on ageing and mortality, using the powerfully angry context of rock ‘n’ roll.”