Biography

Varla Jean Merman (a.k.a. Jeffery Roberson Loe) starred in the musical Lucky Guy opposite Leslie Jordan in New York in 2011 and in the films Hush Up, Sweet Charlotte, Girls Will Be Girls, and Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads. Off-Broadway audiences have also embraced Mr. Roberson in the title role of Menotti’s opera The Medium, and the title role in the musical comedy farce Mildred Fierce. He played the role of Mary Sunshine in the revival of Chicago on Broadway and in the first national touring company. In 2010, he won Boston’s Elliot Norton Award for Best Musical Performance in Phantom of the Oprah. Mr. Roberson’s longtime collaboration with Ricky Graham has produced such hits as Hello Dawlin’!, Gone with the Breaking Wind, Steel Poinsettias, and Scrooge In Rouge, which has nine productions across the country this year alone. As Varla Jean Merman, Mr. Roberson has filled concert halls and cabarets across the world including the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall. He made his network television debut on All My Children, guest starred in Ugly Betty, and was on Bravo's Project Runway, Season 5 as the winning model for the show's drag challenge. Varla Jean Merman makes her San Francisco Symphony debut at this performance.

(December 2018)