Mad Men Cabaret
Bryan Batt stops by Strathmore for a night of songs and stories
“In the ’90s I remember everybody was doing these self-promoting cabaret shows to get work in New York,” actor Bryan Batt says. “It got to be a point of like, ‘I’ll just send you a check for the cover charge — don’t make me sit through your therapy session.'”
Batt’s cabaret, titled “Batt on a Hot Tin Roof,” is not, as he puts it, “an egomaniacal thing” like that. The show, to be presented at Strathmore on Thursday, Nov. 20, is also not an educational lecture. “I’ve seen some cabarets where they sing the songs of Oscar Hammerstein — they pick one composer, and it’s almost like a classroom. Mine is nothing like that whatsoever.”
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Instead, Batt’s show is designed as an entertaining, lighthearted romp, featuring “songs that I love and stories from my life that I think are quite amusing.” A New Orleans native, Batt came to attention through supporting work in independent gay-themed ’90s films such as Jeffrey as well as work in Broadway shows like La Cage Aux Folles and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Batt met his partner, Tom Cianfichi, 25 years ago when they were both starring in an Ohio production of Evita. The couple got married last year.
While his show doesn’t include any numbers from the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, Batt does talk about his work as the closeted character Salvatore Romano on AMC’s hit show Mad Men. The cabaret itself was conceived of in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“I’m no good with a hammer,” Batt explains. “So when Katrina hit and everyone was gutting houses and everything, while I was evacuated in New York, I did tons of benefits and fundraisers and performed at tons of events. And when we got back to New Orleans, this was how I figured out how I could help…displaced actors and musicians after Katrina.”
And now it’s a benefit that keeps on giving — at least for Batt and his fans. As he puts it, “I benefitted as well because now I have this show…that I can do anywhere.”
Bryan Batt performs Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at the Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Tickets are $35. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.
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