Incorrect Merman

When the notorious Varla Jean Merman was last in Australia two years ago in her show The Girl With A Pearl Necklace at Mardi Gras and Melbourne’s Midsumma, she was a woman on a mission.

By her own account, she was tired, lonely and hungry for love, and was on the hunt for a man.

Jeffery Roberson, the man behind Varla Jean, admits fleeting love was found during the Australian escapades of 2005, but there is now a steady love in his life.

That quest is now over, and so there are other things for Varla to focus on, Roberson admits, like herself, particularly her own body.

Anatomically Incorrect is the latest Varla Jean Merman show, and opens at The Studio of the Sydney Opera House in the coming weeks.

In the one-woman cabaret, Varla Jean explores her body through a range of songs about body parts. Fittingly, she opens with My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas, before reworking a Barry Manilow classic into a tale about the Heimlich manoeuvre.

This show is all about Varla exploring every inch of her body, as well as everyone else she can get her hands on, Roberson explains.

The goal of the show is to sing about how important every part of the body is. Varla just hopes at the end of the show people can answer the question, is your whole greater than the parts? Because, let me say, Varla’s whole is great.

Roberson began his career as an advertising art director in his hometown of New Orleans, before moving to New York, where he created Varla Jean in 1996.

At the time, he noticed the influx of video bars in gay clubs. Determined to have his new drag creation noticed, Roberson began making short movies starring Varla to screen in the bars.

One such epic was 45 minutes of Varla being chased by a plastic rat, but the trick worked, and a star was on her way.

Roberson has since appeared on Broadway in the musical Chicago and sung with show divas like Jennifer Holliday and Betty Buckley.

He says the Australian tour of Anatomically Incorrect marks the last leg before taking it onboard the Queen Mary II. In June, he debuts a new show.

This show is a little crazier than the others. Like, I end it dressed as a squirrel looking for nuts while singing about a brain, Roberson says. But that’s the thing with Varla, I never do know what is next, but I also know I am not afraid to do anything.

Anatomically Incorrect plays 24-28 April at The Studio of the Sydney Opera House. Bookings on 9250 7777 or at www.sydneyoperahouse.com/thestudio.