Bryan Batt :
ANIMAL MAGNETISM
By Christine Fontana
The Actor-Designer-Author and Native Son of New Orleans Dazzles on Stage and Screen , Gets Merry for His Boutique Hazelnut ’ s 19th Christmas and Mardi Gras Seasons and Lives the Good Life with Husband Tom and Pups Pip and Daisy
Charismatic and handsome , clever and gregarious , New Orleans ’ own Bryan Batt is a show biz ace and stands out as the quintessential ambassador for his hometown . The superlative actor ’ s resume in theatre , film and television includes roles in Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave , both the stage and silver screen versions of Jeffrey and as closeted advertising executive Salvatore Romano on Mad Men ( AMC ’ s Emmy , Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winning dramatic series ), which earned Batt two Screen Actors Guild Awards . He ’ s authored books including She Ain ’ t Heavy , She ’ s My Mother , a moving , hilarious salute to his elegant mother Gayle , and feast-for-the-eyes design book , Big , Easy Style : Creating Rooms You Love to Live In . Batt co-owns Hazelnut , the stylish home décor boutique on the world-famous Magazine Street , with husband Tom Cianfichi and good friend Katy Danos . Hazelnut holds a treasure trove of thoughtful , tasteful , whimsical gifts , including items fashioned from their signature New Orleans Toile and a colorful Pontchartrain Beach pattern , a nod to the amusement park owned by Batt ’ s family that was universally beloved by New Orleanians . The theater and Broadway veteran is fresh off the run of his critically acclaimed one-man play , Dear Mr . Williams , which opened the 105th season of Le Petit Theatre , and recently finished shooting the independent film Pinball . Batt is gearing up to welcome customers to Hazelnut for the holidays , and enjoying life with Cianfichi and their adorable pups , Pip and Daisy .
“ We never had pets growing up ; my brother was allergic ,” says Batt . “ Right after college , I moved to New York ; soon after , Tom and I got together and we ’ ve been together for 32 years . Tom grew up with dogs and always wanted a dog but it wasn ’ t fair to have one in our small
place . I ’ d make fun of all my friends in New York with dogs because they ’ d talk to them in that baby talk and I thought , ‘ You people are crazy — that ’ s a dog ! And you are following a dog , picking up their poop … what has your life come to !’ Well , fast forward !”
Batt and Cianfichi came down from New York to open up Hazelnut in New Orleans in 2003 and moved to a carriage house with a yard . “ It was time to get a dog ,” says Batt . “ I was asked to do La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway and Tom said you must do this ; I had just turned down standing by for Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz because my mother would ’ ve asked for her money back if she went to see Hugh Jackman and I went onstage ! So we got a Boston Terrier and named her Peggy ; this is before Mad Men ! We got her from a breeder in
24 Life Unleashed