SAG Award winner Bryan Batt's Dear Mr. Williams, the solo show written by and starring the stage and screen actor, opens the 105th season of New Orleans' Le Petit Theatre starting October 8.

Directed by Michael Wilson, the engagement, which continues through October 24, marks the first live production at the historic New Orleans venue since the pandemic began.

The New Orleans-set play takes audiences through the journey of a young gay artist’s coming of age and features the celebrated works of the late Tennessee Williams. As native New Orleanian Batt puts it, "The tumultuous journey from adolescence to adulthood is one we all must take, but it's oh-so-much more exciting and poetic with Tennessee Williams as your guide."

Best known to nationwide audiences as Salvatore Romano on Mad Men (for which he won two SAG Awards as part of the Outstanding Ensemble), Batt is a veteran of the Broadway stage. He made his Main Stem debut in the original production of Cats, replacing for Munkustrap. He later joined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, followed by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He played Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast and appeared in the original Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard. He was also featured in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Saturday Night Fever, and Seussical. Most recently, he understudied the role of Albin in the 2004 revival of La Cage Aux Folles. Off-Broadway he is best known for his work in Jeffrey, later reprising his role as Darius in the film version of the Paul Rudnick comedy.

Batt's more recent screen credits include Don't Look Back, The Blacklist, Eastsiders, Easy Does It, Ambition, Tales of the City, I Hate Kids, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, LBJ, Scream: The TV Series, The Book of Love, NCIS: New Orleans, The Runner, Zipper, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Ugly Betty.

First seen as an informal reading produced by Le Petit Theatre during the New Orleans Tennessee Williams Festival, Dear Mr. Williams then had a workshop seen on the Le Petit Theatre stage in 2019. The work has also enjoyed readings and workshops in New York and St. Louis. The current engagement marks the solo show's first full production.

Click here for ticket information.

(Updated October 8, 2021)