Bryan Batt: Live at the Met

There are triple-threat stars, and then there's Bryan Batt. He sings. He dances. He acts. And he's one of the most brilliantly funny comedians on Broadway today. His pitch-perfect sense of comic timing has served him well in such fun fare as Jeffrey and La Cage Aux Folles, but now he's taking it to the next level and simply being his hilarious, endearing self in his new cabaret act at the Metropolitan Room, Bryan Batt: Live at the Met.

A cabaret show is probably long overdue for Mr. Batt, who has done just about everything else on-and-off Broadway. He has made his career being the most reliable and in-demand standby in the business. After years of stepping in for leading roles in Sunset Boulevard, The Scarlet Pimpernel and La Cage, it's high time that Mr. Batt get the spotlight for himself. And judging from the packed, enthusiastic crowd at the Met Room on Superbowl Sunday, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

 

Mr. Batt's songlist shows off his range both as a singer and an actor. Whether the song is dramatic ("Sailing on my Dreams"), comic (Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe's hilariously twisted "Sensitive Song"), classic (Cole Porter's "Night & Day") or modern ("Way Ahead of My Time"), Mr. Batt brings energetic emotion to whatever he sings, making every moment interesting and exciting. (Michael Levine's sharp piano work does much for the emotional impact of the music.) Several songs pay homage to Mr. Batt's hometown ("Train Called the City of New Orleans," "Do You Know What It Means..."), and his love for The Big Easy and all the city represents permeates many of the hilarious and poignant monologues that balance the songs beautifully.

 

He describes returning to New Orleans just after Hurricane Katrina struck, and moves from describing the devastation and camaraderie of survivors and supporters to singing a hauntingly powerful "Float," from Peter Mills' musical The Flood.  He talks about his first Broadway show (Gilda Radner - Live from New York), and performs that show's opening number, "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals," with comic timing that would have La Radner herself howling. In one of the most impressive segueways, he reads a letter from an overly eager teenage fan, and balances what might have become mockery with a wonderfully celebratory "I Am What I Am" from La Cage.  

 

After years of paying his dues in the wings, it's high time that Bryan Batt get the attention he deserves. May Live at the Met prove to be the fantastic first step on a new road for Mr. Batt, and may that road bring him back to the Metropolitan Room again and again.

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