Izzard, who fans are more accustomed to seeing in makeup, sparkly outfits and the occasional skirt, will kick off an extensive U.S. theatre run of the new show with a three-night stand April 28-30 at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston.

Other venues on the itinerary, which features a number of multi-night residencies, include Academy of Music in Philadelphia (May 5-8), the Chicago Theatre in Chicago (May 15-17), The Palace Theatre in Cleveland (May 23-24), the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. (May 31), the Paramount Theatre in Austin (June 6-8), the Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach, Fla. (June 13-14), Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (June 20), Radio City Music Hall in New York City (June 27), the Paramount Theatre in Seattle (July 11-12), The Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco (July 17-19), the Paramount Theatre in Denver (July 29-30) and the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles (August 7-9).

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

Izzard recently told the New York Times his nonfemme appearance – he refers to himself as an “off-duty transvestite” – and his role in FX’s “The Riches” are part of an effort to get himself considered for more leading acting roles, even if the switch confuses some fans.

“Some people would heckle me and say, ‘Where’s the dress?’ and I’d say, ‘Don’t oppress me you Nazi’ – tends to shut them up,” he told the Times.

“Because I have fought for the right to be able to wear a dress, not that I have to wear a dress. I didn’t jump out of a not-wearing-dress box into a have-to-wear-dress box.”

Izzard’s onstage cross-dressing began when he worried that the press would learn of his transvestitism and expose the news in an unflattering manner. He admitted to reporters that he was a transvestite and they thought he was joking.

“So I thought, I’ll wear a dress and wear makeup and they wrote ‘O.K., he is a transvestite, but he looks a mess.’

“By the time I go to America in ’96, I thought, I’m going to bring it to America so I don’t have to do a two-step here.”

Still, Izzard admitted that he’s now kind of put himself under similar yet opposite constraints for the sake of his acting career.

“Slightly. Socially, politically, the number of out transvestites in the public eye are few.”

The comedian said being a transvestite is “still not part of the establishment.”

“‘Twelve transvestite senators turned up today’ – it hasn’t been said yet. You’re always sort of outside the loop.”

For Izzard, whatever he has to do to be taken seriously as a leading man is worth it.

“The acting career is the most important, because that’s what I wanted to do in the first place. When I was 7, I wanted to act. I saw a kid up onstage, and I think it was a substitute for Mum dying. The audience was showing affection or admiration for something that they saw onstage, and I just thought, I need that.”

Here’s a clip of Izzard with his unique take on guide dogs from his 2003 “Sexie” world arena tour.