Chris Van Cleave

http://www.vancleavemusic.com/biography-new/bio-web/home.html
AS AN ACTOR SINGER, Chris starred in national tours of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, performing to thousands in major theaters, coliseums and concert venues throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

While residing in the United Kingdom for seven years, Chris also performed principal roles in the London West End theatre productions of Les Miserables, Chess, and Bernadette. At the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, he sang and performed the role of Jesus (in Italian and Latin) in Stabat Mater.

Other roles he has enjoyed include Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Hajj in Kismet, the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, Prospero in Return to Forbidden Planet, Sam in Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Lord Summerhays in Misalliance, and Stonewall Jackson in Stonewall Country. A more detailed list can be found on his resume and viewing the acting page.

Chris has an Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Virgina and is a member of both British and American Actors Equity Associations.

IN FILM, Chris has worked with New Dominion Pictures in Norfolk, VA, and appeared in The Untold Stores of the Navy Seals, The FBI Files, The New Detective, Daring Capers, and Ghost Stories, and just recently playing the role of Charles Lindbergh in a National Geographic Television documentary Secret Lives of Charles Lindbergh which aired July 2009.

In 1982 he composed and produced 17 songs for a rock gospel musical, co-written with Paul Solomon, called The Davidson Affair which was performed at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk, VA. The readers theatre version of the show has been performed in the United Kingdon and Holland.

In the last six months while completing his MFA degree at UVA in 2002, Chris created a one-man show called Troubadour Knight. He wrote the script, composed and recorded seven songs, filmed and edited, and performed in this multi-media musical as a project towards his degree.

A chapter in Chris' thesis for this degree is "Synaesthesia in the Performing Arts". He is continuing this study, which is based on the crossing of two or more sensory modalities. His focus is on the relationship of colors of light combined with corresponding sound frequencies and the resulting effects on people individually and within an audience. Troubadour Knight was his first project to explore this principle.

The summer of 2004 he was contracted for three months at the magical outdoor Theater at Lime Kiln in Lexington, VA for three productions. In one of these, he performed the role of Stonewall Jackson in Stonewall Country. This was its final season after a twenty year run which ended with a farewell Gala Performance featuring Robin & Linda Williams, the composers of the show. In March, 2005 Chris performed the role of Father (God) in the Stephen Schwartz musical Children of Eden.

During the last few years, Chris has performed in several shows at the Flat Rock Playhouse (North Carolina State Theater), Mountain Playhouse in Pennsylvania, and this summer again performing the role of Stonewall Jackson. Earlier in 2009 he directed The King & I while also teaching and running a theater department. He is currently writing the script and music for a new Christmas musical Presence.

In March and April, 2010 Chris performed in Sweeney Todd at the Signature Theatre in Washington, DC. He returned for another performance as Stonewall Jackson at the Limekiln Theatre, Lexington and in December of 2010 he was Marley in A Christmas Carol at the Wells Theatre, Norfolk, VA.

2011 had him developing his musicals, recording new songs and performing concerts. On the musical theater stage, he performed in May at Arena Stage, Washington DC in an exciting new musical in development, Skindiver, written by Nona Hendryx (Blue, Labelle) and Arena Stage Resident Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright (Ruined, Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, Blue, Porgy and Bess). In October, Chris played King Triton in The Little Mermaid at the awe-inspiring outdoor Tuacahn Ampitheater in Utah, and in December 2011 Chris returned to the Wells Theater, Norfolk, Va in the role of Marley in A Christmas Carol.

2012 - 2017 has Chris progressing his POW/MIA film project called Not Forgotten; completing his musical Presence; reviving the musical co-written by Paul Solomon and Chris called The Davidson Affair along with creating the CD version of The Davidson Affair album; together with continuing to performing various roles as an actor on tour in the Catskills, NY, Sonora, CA and Roanoke and Norfolk, VA.

In August 2016, Chris was featured in the independent film "Eyes of the Roshi", which premiered in Virginia Beach in 2017.

Late 2016 through early 2017, Chris was collaborating with London West End star and long time friend, Ray Shell, writing and co-writing 46 songs to Ray's new musical production Starboy. 23 of the songs were recorded for an album early 2018 at Barton College in Wilson, NC and can now be heard on Spotify.
In Feb 2021 a concert version, COVID safe, was staged at the Paramount Theater in Goldsboro, NC and the musical continues to garner interest from industy contacts in London and New York.

Lockdowns frustrate but don't stagnate creativity! In the summer of 2021, Chris' song "Carry the Flame", originally written to support The First Earth Run in 1986, was re-recorded into two arrangements to support the Vigil for Peace and Ecology and the International Day of Peace. An acoustic version with legendary violinst Scarlet Rivera and recording artist, violist, Cecil Hooker from New York city was recorded, along with a second arrangement by renowned Greek composer Alexandros Hahalis in Athens, Greece. Both versions can be heard in the Catalog page or on YouTube.

Chris travelled to Greece in 2021 for further collaboration with Alexandros and then again in 2022 where they were joined by Scarlet Rivera for collaboration and performance, and was deeply moved by the hospitality and generosity of all those who welcomed them.