Batt shimmers in the spotlight

Mad Men fans, rejoice — Bryan Batt, famed for playing the show’s deeply closeted Italian American art director Sal Romano, is headed Down Under.

The openly gay musical theatre veteran will bring his one-man cabaret show Batt on a Hot Tin Roof to Australia next month.

“It’s a mixed bag o’ nuts kind of night. The songs range from Cole Porter to Kander and Ebb to Billy Joel,” Batt said from the New Orleans home he shares with his longtime partner, events planner Tom Cianfichi.

Batt’s connection to New Orleans runs deep: born and raised in the city, he returned almost a decade ago and set up a homewares store with Cianfichi. He even has the city’s indomitable spirit to thank for his decision to stage Batt on a Hot Tin Roof.

“When we were returning to our homes from being evacuated after Hurricane Katrina, a friend of mine who owns a wonderful cabaret place here called me and asked me to put together a show we could stage as a fundraiser for all the displaced actors and musicians,” he explained.

“That’s how the show was born.”

As for that lovably naff title, Batt admitted he couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a good pun but promised that he “will not be taking to the stage on a crutch in silk pyjamas with a bottle of bourbon. It’ll be songs I love, songs that tell the story of me being raised in New Orleans, going to Broadway, working on Mad Men”.

It’s been quite a journey. Batt, 48, has been working on Broadway since his 20s, with leading roles in productions including Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, Saturday Night Fever, La Cage Aux Folles, Cats and Starlight Express.

But it was Mad Men’s 2007 debut that brought him the international recognition theatre can’t provide.

“I had no idea the effect the show would have. Luckily, it was actually quite gradual. We shot the pilot and thought, ‘This is good’. Then we saw the pilot and thought, ‘OK, this is really good!’

“For the first season, our numbers weren’t great, but thank God the network had faith in trying something new and stuck with us. As time goes by, everywhere I go, people are asking about Sal.”

Unhappily married and living in denial, Batt’s character was one of the most compelling on the show, set in a 1960s New York ad agency.

“So many people have come up to me and told me that their Dad was Sal. There were so many people out there who were forced to live these lives, and unfortunately it still goes on today.”

Batt speaks from experience — while he came out early on in his career, he has said he could see why some people in the industry find it easier to stay closeted.

“Early on, the only roles I’d get put up for in film and TV were mincing little chorus boys. Very effeminate, badly written, stereotypical roles. That prejudice really does permeate casting, and a lot of the time people aren’t willing to look past who you are to see whether or not you’re able to play a role.

“I’m an actor — I have to pretend to be other people all the time. When it comes to my real life, I don’t want to pretend to be something I’m not. My mom didn’t raise me to be a liar.”

Batt’s affection for his mother, recently deceased civic activist Gayle Batt, is a recurrent theme in his work. He even released a memoir about her last year titled She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother.

“I always knew I had this magical mother. She adored my brother and me from the get-go.

“What was wonderful was when I started doing shows and she’d come along and support me, my friends would start inviting her along if we went to dinner because they loved spending time with her too.

“It’s interesting when that happens. You get to this other level where you have a friendship. She was never a retiring wallflower — she was in full bloom at all times!”

Batt peppers his cabaret show with affectionate stories about his mother, which might provide some raw moments on stage in Australia as these will be his first performances since her death from cancer last December.

“We’ll see how it goes. But there’s something wonderful about cabaret, particularly for me as a Broadway performer.

“It’s the most vulnerable way to perform. Cabaret isn’t about a big performance — it’s about one-on-one communication with the audience.”

info: Bryan Batt plays Melbourne’s Palms At Crown on June 25 (tickets through Ticketek) and Sydney’s The Basement, June 30 – July 2 (tickets through Moshtix). Visit www.bryanbatt.com