@

FLOTILLA DeBARGE: FRESHLY RELEASED -- BLACK, BLESSED & FREE
January 18 - February 1 at The Cutting Room

"Not many performers have the audacity, chutzpah, and soulfulness of downtown legend Flotilla DeBarge... Her patter is wicked, outrageous, pornographic and, yes, unforgettable." -- Show Business

"a strange hybrid of Pearl Bailey and Eric Bogosian" -- New York Magazine

She's been on Broadway, threatened by Star Jones, and tossed in jail. Now drag star FLOTILLA DeBARGE -- last seen on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera with Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper -- brings her newest solo show FLOTILLA DeBARGE: FRESHLY RELEASED -- BLACK, BLESSED & FREE to The Cutting Room beginning January 18.

In September 2006, DeBarge was arrested for assault with a high-heeled shoe in the West Village nightclub APT in self defense. Following in the footsteps of Martha Stewart, Lil Kim and Paris Hilton, she was sentenced to serve jail time. In FLOTILLA DeBARGE: FRESHLY RELEASED -- BLACK, BLESSED & FREE the controversial drag star is back on stage and ready to set the record straight. "It certainly wasn’t OZ, honey. There was no Chris Meloni in sight," notes the drag legend who has been nicknamed The Notorious F.L.O.

In this autobiographical musical essay (which includes versions of Jailhouse Rock and The Cell Block Tango), DeBarge dishes up her thoughts on the penal system, black injustice and lessons learned from a life hanging out in NYC's most glittery nightclubs and bars... to suddenly living life behind bars. FLOTILLA DeBARGE: FRESHLY RELEASED -- BLACK, BLESSED & FREE proves that this lady is black and better than ever!

In addition to The Threepenny Opera, FLOTILLA DeBARGE has appeared on stage in Imitation of Imitation of Life and Charles Busch’s annual holiday classic Times Square Angel. She has appeared on the television shows Sex and the City, Law and Order, and Third Watch. Her film roles include To Wong Foo..., Flawless, Keeping the Faith, Paul Rudnick’s Marci X starring Lisa Kudrow, and Mike Nichols’ HBO film Angels in America. Her past solo shows include The Flotilla DeBarge Minstrel Show and The Flotilla DeBarge Chanukah-Kwanzaa-Christmas Spectacular. In 2005, an anti-fur ad from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) featured DeBarge dressed as Star Jones, who threatened to sue PETA as a result of the ad.

FLOTILLA DeBARGE: FRESHLY RELEASED -- BLACK, BLESSED & FREE runs January 18 - February 1, Fridays at 7:30pm. The Cutting Room is located at 19 West 24th (accessible from the N,R,F,V & 6 trains at 23rd Street). Tickets are $18. Purchase tickets online now or call 212-352-3101.