Varla Jean Merman is a character originated and portrayed by Jeffery Roberson, an American actor, singer and
drag performer. Varla's fictitious pedigree boasts that
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
is her father and
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...
is her mother.
Merman is perhaps best known for her role in the 2003 independent film ''
Girls Will Be Girls''.
She also had a co-starring role in the 1997 film ''Franchesca Page''. Merman was also one of the performers featured in the HBO original documentary ''Dragtime''. She has appeared in a number of short films and live cabaret acts since she and her male alter-ego attended the School of Music at Louisiana State University.
Merman's shows are a staple of summer entertainment in
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...
.
She also performs fairly often in
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and has also enjoyed billing at the
Sydney Opera House in
Australia and
Carnegie Hall.
The gay-themed television network
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...
commissioned Merman to write and star in an animated educational short film about the
Stonewall riots of 1969.
Merman appeared on the August 20, 2008 ''
Project Runway
''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design.
The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...
'' episode "Good Queen Fun".
The outfit created for her was the winning design.
She also had two short runs on the
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
All My Children'' as the character "Rosemary Chicken".
Roberson has almost always been credited as either "Varla Merman" or "Varla Jean Merman" rather than his birth name, though in the role of Mary Sunshine in the Broadway revival of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, he's credited as the gender-neutral "J. Roberson," in keeping with the show's tradition of concealing the performer's gender.
Merman appeared along with
Leslie Jordan
Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...
in the 2011
off-Broadway musical ''
Lucky Guy''.
''Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads'', a film based on Roberson and Jacques Lamarre's fake kids' show that's been performed in New Orleans, San Francisco and Provincetown, Mass., is slated for a fall 2011 release. In it, an alcoholic Varla tricks a couple into paying for her services as a surrogate mother to raise money to produce a children's TV show.
Merman's 2012 schedule included the role of Madam Flora in an Off-Broadway production of the
Gian Carlo Menotti opera ''
The Medium
''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...
''.
In 2013, Merman played the title role in
the Gold Dust Orphans production ''Mildred Fierce''.
Awards
Along with co-stars
Miss Coco Peru
Miss Coco Peru (born August 27, 1965) is the drag persona of American actor, comedian and drag performer Clinton Leupp, known for her role in the 1999 independent film ''Trick'' and for her series of live theater performances. Recognizable by he ...
and
Evie Harris, Merman shared the Best Actor Grand Jury Award at
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...
2003 and "Best Actress" honors at both the 2003
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and the 2003 Aspen HBO Film Festival for her role in ''
Girls Will Be Girls''.
References
External links
Varla's official site*
Varla Jean Mermanat
Internet Off-Broadway Database
The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.
The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundatio ...
Varla's collaboration with Vidkid Timo
Varla's role as "Rosemary Chicken"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merman, Varla Jean
American drag queens
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American stage actors
American gay actors