Here it is...

I'm playing Julius Caesar in the Musical "CLEOPATRE" which opens January 29th at the Paiais des Sports in Paris. It will run there until about April - if all goes well - at which point we will go on tour through France, Belgium and Switzerland for about 3 months, and then come back to Paris for another run at the Palais des Sports. In all this will take me about 2 years.

This is a new line of work for me. Although it involves singing, it also involves acting and dancing - two things I've never really done professionally.

I thought I'd write this little blog to explain to you what happened and how I came to do this.

They found me on Myspace. I auditioned and.. what the fuck... I got the part.
Never in a million years did I ever think that I'd get it. I mean, I showed up at the audition with a beard and a gut, jet-lagged as hell, looking like shit. When I got up on the little stage in that tiniest of theaters in Paris they had to ask me who I was because I looked like I had no business being there!
I was supposed to have learned songs by heart etc... none of that. I had my lyrics in hand and still fucked it up. But don't get me wrong, I did the best I could do. Gave it my best shot.
I guess I didn't fuck it up enough, cause 2 weeks later I got a call from Kamel Ouali, the director, asking me if I'd like to be a part of this 'marvelous journey'. I cringed and said yes. 2 years was a long time to give up doing what I love to do most - write songs, make records and go on tour.
It was too big a train to come through my station not to get on. I mean, a musical! Kinda like broadway or something. The grandioseness of it all... it called to me.

Anyway, we're going to wrap up the first month of rehearsals tomorrow and, I thought that it was a good time to let everyone know what the hell was going on with me and why I wasn't on tour or putting out any records or showing up at any weddings etc...
You know... blog.
It's been a trip.
We've spent the last few months making the record. I've been in Paris a lot to work on singing in french. It's not as easy as it seems. Even though I'm fluent, singing the words for your own record is a lot different than singing them for musical soundtrack! After moving here we started these rehearsals. Everyday we start with running for 20 minutes followed by a bazillion sit ups in the middle of about 40 dancers who all look like they should be on the cover of a fitness magazine. Then come the dance routines. Then comes the 'Actor's Studio'. Hours of improv and stuff like that.
Tomorrow we're going to put it all together for the first time to see where things are really at - combine the dancing and singing and acting into the 2 act musical that it is.
Can't wait really. As we get closer and it all comes together, we're finally beginning to see just how big of a show this is going to be. And then will come the sets and the costumes etc... huge.
It's going to be a great show. There are some really talented people involved. If you want to know more.... go to NRJ.FR and type in Cleopatre. Don't know the site has english... gonna be all in french I'm afraid.

Okay.. I'm done. After tomorrow, when I get my life back for a minute, I'm going to put the dates up etc...
So, there it is.
How's this for my first blog? Lemme know.

Just letting you know that I will be on Fearless Music TV in NYC this Saturday night, September 9th, performing Landslide. Fearless Music TV is on Saturday nights at 1am on Fox 5 in NYC, and if you are not in NYC, check out the time and channel listing on our website at www.fearlessmusic.tv/channels.html to find out when and where else they air.

This was with Anthony Johnson on Drums and Debar on bass.

Take care, and please feel free to lemme know what you think.
Chris

This Tuesday July 11, "Chris Stills - When the Pain Dies Down - Live in Paris" will be in stores across the US. It's a live record that was captured at the Palais des Congres Studio in Paris earlier this year. It's kinda like a BBC Sessions....ya know

The guys I'm playing with are Debar on bass, and Christophe on drums in a power trio. I'll let you discover the rest.

Lemme know what you think.