Well-Strung to Premiere Holiday Show in New Orleans

On the heels of their Billboard Top 10 Classical Crossover album, Well-Strung returns to New Orleans with a world premiere holiday show featuring Varla Jean Merman. "A Well-Strung Christmas" will have its world premiere at Cafe Istanbul on November 27, 28, and 29. The new show has been devised by Well-Strung, Mark Cortale and director Richard Jay-Alexander, and features the group's own unique pop-classical spin on some of the most beautiful and traditional holiday favorites. The new show hosted by Varla Jean Merman will feature holiday favorites like "Silent Night" and irreverent newly-observed versions of songs like "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Sleighride," all the way to George Michael's "This Christmas" and everything in between. For tickets and information please visit www.broadwaynola.com.

The New York Times recently called Well-Strung "A talented quartet of men who sing and play instruments brilliantly fuses pop and classical music from Madonna to Beethoven." Well-Strung, featuring Edmund Bagnell (first violin), Christopher Marchant (second violin), Daniel Shevlin (cello) and Trevor Wadleigh (viola), is a string quartet with a modern twist. The group plays universally recognized classical pieces while singing pop music hits from the likes of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, and other pop stars for a uniquely engaging experience. Conceived by Mark Cortale and Christopher Marchant, the foursome has quickly gained international attention. Last month they were invited to perform at the Vatican in Rome and at a gala for President Obama. Their hit 'viral' music video "Chelsea's Mom," released this summer, led to a command performance for - and meeting with - 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton herself. The group has received critical acclaim at New York's prestigious Feinstein's/54 Below and well beyond, from the House of Blues in New Orleans to the Leicester Square Theatre in London. They have performed recently at the NYC TrevorLIVE Gala, as well as appearances and performances on The Today Show and Watch What Happens Live. They have also performed with artists such as Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Audra McDonald and Deborah Voigt.

On October 2nd, Well-Strung released their second studio album titled POPssical, a celebratory blend of pop hits sung by the group accompanied by respected classical music. The album features ten tracks including renditions of "Blank Space (Feat. Bach)" and "Royals (Feat. Palladio)" as well as the infamous ode to Hillary Clinton, "Chelsea's Mom" as a bonus track. To celebrate the release of POPssical, the group surprised their fans with a bonus music video for the track "The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Feat. J.S. Bach)." In the new video, the group takes Bach's Double Violin Concerto and adds the southern charm of Charlie Daniels Band to create a unique sound all on its own. Well-Strung's new POPssical album is available now at iTunes or on CD at CDBaby.

Jeffery Roberson aka Varla Jean Merman starred in the musical "Lucky Guy " opposite Leslie Jordan in NY at the Little Shubert in 2011 prompting The New York Times to rave, "If Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had stood in front of the right pair of funhouse mirrors, they might have resembled Ms. Merman and Mr. Jordan in stature as well as comedic talent". He played the role of Mary Sunshine in the revival of "Chicago " on Broadway and also made his network television debut on All My Children. In 2010 Jeffery won an Elliot Norton Award for Best Musical Performance in "The Phantom of the OPRAH. " He returned to Boston to star as Mother Superior in SpeakEasy Stage's production of "The Divine Sister" by Charles Busch. He 's filmed three feature films, "Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads," "Girls Will Be Girls 2012," and most recently "Hush Up Sweet Charlotte" which will premiere at the Castro Theatre on October 28. He guest starred as Varla Jean on "Ugly Betty " in the final season of the show and was also featured on Bravo's "Project Runway " Season 5 as the winning model for the show's drag challenge.