Jon Batiste came to party; Opera Saratoga's surprise announcement
PLUS: a post-Labor Day cocktail party and Jayson Werth across the pond
Jon Batiste’s electric SPAC show turns Saratoga into a New Orleans street party
Jon Batiste came to SPAC ready to party.
Wearing a sparkly gold suit and a 1,000-watt smile, the (seven-time) Grammy-winning jazz icon hit the stage with Philadelphia Orchestra — decked out in white suit jackets and black bowties — not only ready to get down New Orleans style himself, but determined to bring the whole crowd with him.
Literally.
Throughout the show, a fantastic performance that included everything from “Oh When the Saints Come Marching In” and “Georgia On My Mind” to “Lean On My Love” and “Big Money” from his new album (Big Money, out yesterday), Batiste got the crowd up and dancing. The feeling? Electric. Batiste’s wife, Saratogian Suleika Jaouad — resplendent in all white — was on her feet. (During intermission, the famed author and cancer advocate greeted guests with enormous smiles and hugs.) Kids were dancing in the aisles. SPAC President Chris Shiley grinned as he watched the crowd, as his friends giggled that his colleague Austin Bayliss’s family happened to be seated where they were shown on the big screens all night.
And when it was over, it was anything but over.
The excitement was palpable the second it became clear that Batiste was going to go for it: with his trusty “harmonaboard” and following his glowing wife, he exited the stage and marched straight up the aisle. Playing his melodica and dancing, he gained people as he went, until everyone — thousands of people — were crowding and dancing on the lawn with one lightning rod of talent at the center.
Earlier in the evening, Batiste talked of unity. If anyone can break down barriers and show the power and magic of the performing arts, it’s him.
Surprise! Opera Saratoga makes huge announcement at groovy shindig
Mid-party Wednesday night — a retro-cool “Caftans & Cocktails” shindig at the home of board member Bill Lynch — Opera Saratoga (OA) made a mic drop announcement: It will perform a unique spin on La Bohème, at UPH on December 5. The concert version of the epic Puccini love story will be music directed by Adam Nielsen of the Met and Juilliard, and directed by OA’s General and Artistic Director, Mary Birnbaum.
“If you know Rent, you know the plot,” says Birnbaum, who is also Juilliard’s Dramatic Advisor for Masters of Music and Graduate Diploma Program. “Two young bohemian artists meet and fall in love in Paris, but are tragically fated. Poverty and illness conspire against them until it’s too late.
“Whether it’s your first opera or you’ve been many times, La Bohème has a story and beautiful music that reminds you of your first love.”
Both Birnbaum and Nielsen were in town for the party, an end-of-summer bash that was supposed to be a pool party but moved inside due to the weirdly-inclement weather Wednesday night. The cozy Palm Springs-inspired cocktail party brought such performing stans as Tiina Loite and Fred Conrad, Ellen Beal, Bob and Marcia Miller, Ken and Susi Ritzenberg, Mark Behan and Tara Hutchins, Clark Gale and Zac Denham, Seana Mosher, Paul Hennessey, and Bryan and Robin Benak.
The announcement — and the first annual Caftans & Cocktails soirée — were part of the opera company’s new amplified year-round initiative to have a greater presence in its hometown throughout the year.
Party Inn Style
A little more than a month ago, I got a sneak peek of the fabulous new Libby supper club going down at the historical Union Gables Inn. Been too busy this Saratoga summer to commit to a six-course sit-down? You’re in luck! Owner/chef Justin Daw is “putting together a little cocktail party” — the inn’s very first — for locals post-Labor Day. Soak in the history on the stunning porch overlooking Union Avenue, or relax by the mansion’s pool. Ticket ($50) covers all hors d’oeuvres (and they’ll be good, if he’s trying to rep what was a delicious, just-the-right-amount-of-decadent meal) and a welcome drink. Reserve your spot on Tock for the Saturday, September 6 cocktail party, which will go from 4 to 8 pm. See you there!
Oh la la — Jayson wins hearts across the pond
New horse racing heavy-hitter Jayson Werth has been a familiar face around Saratoga Race Course since his Dornoch won the Belmont here in 2024 — and now he’s got a horse on the international stage. His 2-year-old Outfielder has been making headlines ahead of his run in Sunday’s 151st Sumbe Prix Morny at the chic Deauville racetrack in Normandy, France. It seems that some swooning new French fans are starry-eyed after catching the former American baseball star on Netflix in the horse racing series Race for the Crown.
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