Jeffery Roberson
Varla Jean Merman Is The Drowsy Chappell Roan
By John Amodeo
“I met Chappell Roan’s uncle at a Starbucks in Wilton Manors,” noted Jeffery Roberson, the alter ego of the whirling dervish drag chanteuse Varla Jean Merman. “He told me, ‘My niece is a big fan of yours,’ which almost knocked me over because I didn’t even realize she knew who I was. Her uncle is a flight attendant and he’s gay, which is redundant. He was in Wilton Manors because his niece was in town doing a Christmas special with Sabrina Carpenter.” Thus was born Varla Jean Merman Is The Drowsy Chappell Roan, which Roberson as Merman will perform at the Club Café’s Moonshine Room this Thursday March 26, and Saturday, March 28.
Varla Jean Merman, who claims to be the love child of Ernest Borgnine and Ethel Merman, blew into Provincetown in 1995 with a gale force that could fuel an armada, and has performed there annually ever since with full summer season gigs for the past 28 years. She has brought her multi-media cabaret shows—that involved singing in her own voice, vaudevillian sketch comedy, and videos—all with a delightfully irreverent and kitschy edge. She put her uncanny coloratura soprano to good use “briefly” as Mary Sunshine in the Broadway revival of Chicago. Over the past three decades, she has performed in nightclubs and theaters, nationally and internationally, including many stops in Boston. The Los Angeles Times has described Varla Jean Merman as “…a cyclone in a sequin factory.”
Roberson added, “When Roan was a little girl, her uncle would show her my videos on YouTube.” Roberson explained that Merman claims this led Chappel Roan and several other pop princesses to copy Varla Jean’s unique style, sound, and songs. “They ripped me off,” she claimed. “So, I do my version of their songs using my own lyrics.”
Roberson took a break from working on his new show Unlike a Virgin, to speak with Cabaret Scenes about The Drowsy Chappell Roan as he prepares to bring it to Boston.
John Amodeo You had a childhood fascination with Carol Burnett. What was that all about?
Jeffery Roberson I wanted to be in show business when I was young and I loved the costumes. I wanted to act. I didn’t want to be Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, I wanted to be Vickie Lawrence and Carol Burnett. They had the best costumes! I now know Bob Mackie. I loved the character work. Just pure joy.
John When did you realize you could sing and sing so high?
Jeffery I was very young. I used to sing “Sing, Sweet Nightingale” from Disney’s Cinderella, and my very country religious mother would yell “Stop that yodeling!” When I was in college, I really started to work on it. In 1992, I entered a competition at the mall in New Orleans, and I sang Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” I also sang “Like a Virgin” in this crazy high voice, and I knew that was my ticket because it got me on TV.
I got the part of the understudy as Mary Sunshine in the Broadway revival of Chicago in 1996. I then went into the role and later on tour, so I had to use that voice eight times a week. To get in shape, I studied La Grand Scena’s Ira Siff, who sang in an operatic voice. I was working in advertising, and I got a leave of absence to do the show, and in 1998 a woman saw me and said I should come to Provincetown and do a show, and I began my complete career as a performer.
John Why were you drawn to comedy and to perform it?
Jeffery I know that most people think comedians are dark and they laugh on stage and there is some truth to that. I had a rough childhood at home so I made people laugh in school. I was a kook. It was an escape from the life I had at home. Now, things are so nutty in this country. I don’t typically do political humor. I try to do escapism and right now comedians have such a huge job to help people escape. People see the news every single minute, not just the 5 o’clock News. Other performer— Miss Coco Peru did a whole political show and she was brilliant—but I was made to make people forget for an hour, which is why I do the song “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish from the Barbie movie. It won an Oscar. She’s so young, only in her 20s, and she has two Oscars.
John Did you have any drag influences that inspired Varla Jean?
Jeffery The first drag queen I ever saw was on TV in Wonder Woman and it was Charles Pierce. He was on an episode and they dubbed him because he had such a deep voice. But I knew it was a man in drag. Endora, on Bewitched: I was obsessed with her. Then, at 18, I saw John Waters’ Pink Flamingos, then Desperate Living. I couldn’t believe they existed and it opened my mind that you could do anything. When you are so big as a person, the smaller you are the funnier you are. I’m a big guy, 300 pounds. I played Helen Keller with Charles Busch as Annie Sullivan, and I would do it straight. But it was funny because of my size.
I did songs from Carrie with Betty Buckley at the Bottom Line, and she didn’t get why they were laughing at first, then she did. That was a highlight of my life. “Eve Was Weak” was Margaret White’s big number when she throws Carrie down the stairs. You won’t believe that performance, and it was one of the greatest performances in musical theater.
John When you began performing drag over 30 years ago, I imagine the majority of drag performers were lip synching rather than singing with their own voices.? What were some of the early reactions to you singing with your own voice?
Jeffery It did not go over well in Louisiana. But in New York, Ru Paul began to become big and drag queens started singing. In the early days, their singing was just serviceable, and now the voices are unbelievable; Sutton Lee Seymour, for instance.
John You’ve played at the Club Café a number of times, and you’ve worked at the SpeakEasy Stage with Charles Busch in The Divine Sister. What is your connection with Boston that brings you back here?
Jeffery I’ve always loved Boston. So many people know me from Ptown and many of them live in Boston. I did a long sit-down run of Chicago with Ann Reinking in Boston and I got to know the city and that was when the South End was very gay. I always loved Club Café and I love [owner] Frank Rubaudo. I’m good friends with his husband. I’ve done lots of plays with Ryan Landry. I won an Elliot Norton award. Boston gets me, but there are lots of places that don’t.
John I’ve read you saying that the show kind of chooses you. How did this show choose you and how does it stand apart from some of your other shows?
Jeffery I came up with the title just to make people laugh. Then when I met her uncle and I found out Chappell Roan knows who I am, and because Elton John wrote a London Evening Standard article on me and called me ‘burly’ (Google ‘Elton Varla Burly;’ it will come up). In Puerto Vallarta, I did a Taylor Swift show. So, something at the last minute told me to do a pop show.
John Are all the songs in the show parodies of the songs of Chappel Roan and other pop princesses?
Jeffery They are all parodies, except “Anxiety” by Doechii, an amazing Grammy-winning rapper. I do Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Doechii, and Olvia Rodrigo; only women pop singers on the radio.
John Do you play around with any songs from The Drowsy Chaperone?
Jeffery I do the Myley Cyrus song the “Climb,” but it is done to “I Don’t Want to Show Off,” from Drowsy Chaperone.
John How much do you ad lib in your show, or are they strictly scripted?
Jeffery I always ad lib. I find that you write a show. It’s your road map. You have to know it so well that you can go in and out. I find a tangent that is so organic. And stuff you write on paper you think is organic isn’t so on stage. But something in the moment on stage can be funnier than what’s written, especially if you are in tune with the audience. Some nights repeating it won’t work because you have a new audience.
John If you could be any other singer or performer, who would you be?
Jeffrey Who wouldn’t want to be Beyoncé? The voice is so insane; and the dancing. She gives 100% every time. I’m a big fan. Some of her music I’m not the biggest fan of, but as an entertainer, she is a Liza Minnelli and a Tina Turner. But if we can go old school, Mitzi Gaynor. Her faces and her Bob Mackie costumes were amazing.
Jeffery Roberson will perform Varla Jean Merman Is the Drowsy Chappell Roan on Thursday, March 26 and Saturday, March 28, 2026, 8 PM at the Moonshine Room, Club Café, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA, 02116. Tickets $40-$50. For Tickets and more information, visit: Varla Jean Merman is The Drowsy Chappell Roan – Club Café Boston
