The Art House

Varla Jean Merman's "Relieving Herself," Featuring Gerald Goode at the Piano, Premieres in Provincetown This Summer

Drag Comedy Icon Launches “The First Annual Farewell Tour” At Provincetown’s Art House Theatre Running Through August 30.

 

Provincetown, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/09/2014 --Goodbye, Varla Jean!? Just like a candle in the wind, Varla Jean Merman is blowing herself out! After what seems like endless years of life on the streets, whoops...life on the road, everyone's favorite drag chanteuse is thinking about packing it in with one final, endless blowout. As always, Varla will bring audiences to their knees with old favorites, new classics, flashy costumes and hair-raising wigs. The big question: Will this old attention whore be able to resist the lure of the spotlight? To find out the answer… Varla Jean Merman’s “Relieving Herself” is currently running from June 30 - August 30 at The Art House in Provincetown, MA. For tickets and information, please visit The Art House website or call 1-800-838-3006.

Varla Jean Merman is the purported love child of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine. After a typically busy past couple of years starring to critical acclaim as the title roles in the original musical comedy farces Mildred Fierce in Boston, Scrooge in Rouge in New Orleans, Menotti’s opera The Medium in New York, and her new show Twice Upon A Mattress…Will My Prince Ever Come? at The Art House in Provincetown, Varla also debuted her first show on London’s West End in a decade with her popular hit The Book of Merman. The daffy diva-turned-author described her hit show as being “equal parts pop-up book, scratch 'n sniff, and Braille” as she invited audiences to “see, smell and finger her life story.”

Jeffery Roberson aka Varla Jean Merman starred recently Off-Broadway in the musical Lucky Guy opposite Leslie Jordan at the Little Shubert, prompting The New York Times to say "If Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had stood in front of the right pair of funhouse mirrors, they might have resembled Ms. Merman and Mr. Jordan in stature as well as comedic talent.” He played the role of Mary Sunshine in the revival of Chicago on Broadway and in 2010 won Boston’s Elliot Norton Award for Best Musical Performance in The Phantom of the OPRAH. He returned to Boston last fall to star as Mother Superior in SpeakEasy Stage's The Divine Sister by Charles Busch. Jeffery as Varla Jean has filled concert halls and cabarets across the world including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Public Theater, London’s Soho Theatre, LA’s Renberg Theatre, and San Francisco’s Victoria Theatre. Jeffery recently completed shooting the feature films Girls Will Be Girls 2012 and Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads, which played the 2012 festival circuit and is currently available exclusively via Seth TV. He made his network television debut on All My Children, guest starred as Varla Jean in Ugly Betty’s final season and on Bravo's Project Runway Season 5 as the winning model for the show's drag challenge.

Listing Information:
Varla Jean Merman’s “Relieving Herself”
1st Annual Farewell Tour
featuring Gerald Goode at the piano
written by Jeffery Roberson and Jacques Lamarre
June 30 - August 30:
Mondays & Sundays @ 9:00 PM

The Art House
214 Commercial Street
Provincetown, Massachusetts 02657
Box office: 508.487.9222
For tickets and information, please visit The Art House website or call 1-800-838-3006.

Press Contact: Tom Fervoy, Director of Marketing and Communications: tomfervoy@gmail.com or 646.408.0368