New Orleans Magazine, September 2007
PEOPLE TO WATCH 2007
With a little help from our friends
Sgt. Pepper was last seen taking a club of lonely-hearts
for a ride on a yellow submarine. We have assembled our own band of characters
known not as much for their musicianship but for satisfying our annual
search for new notables. “People to Watch” we define as mostly
new faces who are doing something interesting with their lives that’s
worthy of our awareness or, in some cases, familiar faces moving in a
different direction. In making our picks we’ve sought recommendations
from others and done our own probing. The process of making such selections
is a demanding but it’s getting better all the time. P.S. For the
benefit of Mr. Kite: Please call Lovely Rita.
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Bryan Batt
Actor; Co-owner, Hazelnut; Activist
You may recognize Bryan Batt from his numerous Broadway appearances (including
the role of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast), as the co-owner of Hazelnut
(a fine gift and home furnishings store on Magazine Street) and now as
art director Salvatore Romano on the new hit TV series “Mad Men” airing
Thursday evenings on AMC. Batt, in his own words, has become “tri-coastal,” flying
between New York (for theater), New Orleans and Los Angeles (where “Mad
Men” films). In New Orleans at his store Hazelnut, Batt and his
partner and co-owner Tom Cianfichi, with Peggy their Boston terrier,
have found great success with their signature New Orleans Toile fabric
and products, which helped benefit Second Harvest Food Bank. They are
now looking for another triumph with their new, brighter fabric, Pontchartrain
Beach (Batt’s family owned the former lakefront amusement park) – of
which a portion of the sales will benefit Children’s Hospital.
Activism is very important to Batt and he currently serves on two boards:
NO/AIDS Task Force and Le Petit Théatre du Vieux Carré.
With all of his accomplishments, Batt says he “was most honored
to receive the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Award this year.”
What’s next? Batt plans to continue his juggling act of
running Hazelnut, acting and helping local and civic organizations but
what is he really looking forward to? “V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.!” – M.P.
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