Understudy Batt applies industrial strength lip liner in star Gary Beach's dressing room as he prepares to go on for Beach in the starring role of Albin/Zaza in the Broadway revival of 'La Cage aux Folles." AP PHOTOS BY STUART RAMSON/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

"I have some low-cut gowns, so I have to shave my chest, and my legs," Batt said by phone from New York. "They've plucked my eyebrows and since I've had two knee surgeries, I have to be very careful wearing heels. But believe it or not, these heels are not as high as the '70s platforms I wore playing Monty the DJ in 'Saturday Night Fever,' and I don't have to keep them on as long. The Cagelles, the chorus girls who are all men this time around, have been giving me pointers and Ochsner gave me something that's like WD-40 for the knee."

Batt is the standby for star Gary Beach in "La Cage" and thus far has had to go on in the part six times, when Beach became ill or his shooting schedule on the movie musical remake of "The Producers" conflicted with the show. Batt has been told he may go on for Beach a good deal between March 19 and April 22, "but film shooting schedules aren't written in stone. Every time we have a confirmed date, we'll post it on my Web site," he said.

	'Zaza is here!' announces Bryan Batt in 'I Put a Little More Mascara On,' the first number he performs in 'La Cage aux Folles.' Behind him: one of the Cagelle showgirls, who are all played by men in the revival.

Batt and Beach (a Tony Award nominee for his Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast" and a Tony winner as Roger Debris in "The Producers") are friends. In fact, Batt succeeded Beach on Broadway as Lumiere and Beach came to see him.

"He told me that I was the only person he'd want to see doing Lumiere," Batt said. "As Gary's standby, I am contracted to understudy only his role. If Gary's not going to be able to do it, he calls and tells me. And during the show, I'm supposed to stay within a five-block radius of the Marquis Theater between 8 and 10 p.m. But listen, if Gary starts the show, Gary's going to finish the show. He is the consummate professional."

He didn't think he would be hired to understudy and once he was, Batt said, "I never thought it would get to the point of actually going on. Let's face it, I'm not ideal casting. At 41, I'm too young for the part, I'm 6-foot-1 -- 6-foot-4 with the wig and heels -- barrel-chested, a 44 long; physically, I'm a big ol' man. I was afraid once they got the costumes and everything on, I might look like a truck float.

Batt, who's had two knee surgeries and wears high heels in the show, does some leg stretches backstage to limber up prior to performing.

"A few weeks ago, I had 60 people from New Orleans come up to see me do the show and their reactions were interesting. Some thought I looked like Rosemary Clooney, or Joan Rivers on steroids. I think I look like Bea Benaderet, the mother on 'Petticoat Junction,' or maybe my own mother with a glandular condition.

"But it's been so much fun getting to do this show and this role. The director, Jerry Zaks, actually came to my 'put in,' my rehearsal with the cast. He's just about the most particular director I've ever worked with, and I had some new stuff I wanted to add. The biggest compliment I received was from him. He said, 'I saw no one trying to imitate anyone on that stage. You created your own character.'

"The costume designer, William Ivey Long, the best on Broadway, fitted my costumes. I've got padding to give me curves on my hips and a bigger butt and a waist cincher like Miz Scarlett in 'Gone With the Wind' that's a killer, but 'Fiddle-dee-dee,' that which does not kill us makes us stronger, right?"

Batt said that sometimes he'll watch the show from the back of the house or the box seats, "and every night, when the overture starts, the audience lights up, en masse. Their toes start tapping, they sing along, they start grinning; these people love Jerry Herman's style of pure Broadway show music. They don't want to stop applauding numbers like the cancan. It's just wonderful entertainment.

"My favorite moment, of course, is to stand stage center, my feet apart, and belt out 'I Am What I Am,' this great, soaring, affirmative anthem; such an important song, and such a privilege to be singing it."

The flowers arrive every time he goes on and so do hometown and celebrity well-wishers: Joan Rivers (with whom Batt's working on a project), Rosie O'Donnell, Tony Award-winning friend and Batt's "idol" Harriet Harris ("Frasier's" agent Bebe), "Dracula" star Tom Hewitt. Harvey Fierstein, who wrote the book for the show, "sent a note saying, 'Wish I could be there, but I'm playing the Jew across the street' " (Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof").

If there's a downside to all this, it's that Batt had to turn down a part in "The Producers" movie.

"It was a scene with Gary Beach," he said, "and the producers couldn't take the chance of us both filming at once."

Theater writer David Cuthbert can be reached at dcuthbert@timespicayune.com or at (504) 826-3468.