"THE
VERY WORST OF VARLA JEAN MERMAN" STARRING JEFFERY ROBERSON PLAYS
SAN FRANCISCO
COMES TO NEW CONSERVATORY
THEATRE CENTER APRIL 6th through MAY 4th, 2002 (Previews April 4th
& 5th)
The
New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) and Peak Performance Productions
present "The Very Worst of Varla Jean Merman," starring the award-winning
Diva Extraordinaire Varla Jean Merman (aka Jeffery Roberson). "The
Very Worst of Varla Jean Merman," directed by Michael Schiralli, opens
Saturday, April 6th, at 8:0 pm and runs through Saturday, May 4th,
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm, with late shows at 10:00
pm on Saturdays: April 13th, 20th & 27th and May 4th. Previews are
on April 4th and 5th at 8:00 pm. All performances are at the NEW CONSERVATORY
THEATRE CENTER (25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA - 415-861-8972).
Tickets are $20 for previews,
$25 for Wednesdays and Thursdays, $30 for Fridays and Saturdays, and
$35 for Opening Night. The April 5th preview is "Pay As You Wish Community
Night" for walk-ups only - advance tickets are regular price.
Varla Jean Merman is singer,
dancer, actress, light-comedienne, clarinet player and educator. Yes,
educator. San Francisco audiences expect to be entertained, but Varla
Jean has no intention of entertaining anyone. Too obvious. Too easy.
Varla Jean has never been one to color inside the linesŸ so she is
going to give her fans' brains a "big fat hug." "The Very Worst
of Varla Jean Merman," written by Jeffrey Roberson with additional
material written with Michael Schiralli and Matt Callaway, is "designed
to enliven, enlighten, enrich, and uplift you out of the mundane rut
that has become your life," according to Varla.
Cory Litchford is on piano
and Roberta Damke on drums. Philip Heckman, who received a Garland
Costume Award nomination for the show, designed the costumes.
Whether singing about
the risks of aerosol-cheese or kidney-theft, or presenting educational
video travelogues on 'what not to do' in places from Cape Code to
Japan, Varla Jean will present some of the "worst" lessons she has
learned in her own life that will leave audiences thankfully clinging
to their own.
Songs that Varla sings
in The Very Worst... include: Talk to the Genitals, Act Insane, Love
on the Rocks, White Rabbit, Disco Inferno, and School House Rock.
She also reprises Dream a Little Dream from her hit show Enough About
Me.
Varla Jean Merman is the
creation of Jeffery Roberson, who was a recent winner of a Backstage
West Garland Performance Award for his performance in the LA production
of "The Very Worst of Varla Jean Merman." He moved to New York from
New Orleans in 1994 and immediately became a fixture in the downtown
club scene. In 1995, he wrote and starred in "Varla and the Man Who
Got Away," which was produced by Susanne Bartsch at Westbeth Theatre
Center. His multi-media cabaret acts, "I Who have Nothing" (1997 BACK
STAGE Bistro Award) and "Peel Me A Grape" (1998 MAC Award) ran for
fifteen sell-out months at EIGHTY EIGHT'S Cabaret. He made his Carnegie
Hall debut with "Varla Jean Merman: A Christmas Concert."
Roberson's most recent
show, "The Very Worst of Varla Jean Merman" (New England Independent
Critics Award), debuted at New York's premiere comedy club, Carolines,
then played to sold-out crowds at Joe's Pub at the New York Public
Theatre, and The Gay and Lesbian Theatre in Los Angeles. "The Very
Worst..." also had a three-week run at the Soho Theatre in London
this past September. BACK STAGE WEST recently gave the show a Garland
Performance Award.
Robertson's "Enough About
Me: An Unauthorized Autobiography" (nominated for a GLAD Award) played
at NCTC in October 2000, following a five-month Off-Broadway run in
NYC. Roberson played the role of Mary Sunshine in the hit Broadway
musical revival of "Chicago" and toured with the First National Company
for six months from Tokyo to Schenectady. Other credits include several
TWEED Theatre Fraktured Classiks productions, such as "Caged!" with
Lily Tomlin, Joan Rivers and Isabella Rossellini and "The Miracle
Worker" (with Charles Busch).
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