Originally posted Monday, December 2, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Ana Gasteyer relates well to a particular celebrity she impersonated often on "Saturday Night Live" from 1996 to 2002: Martha Stewart.
“I have way too much Martha Stewart in me,” she admitted in a recent interview. “I love hostessing and throwing a party. I love getting dressed up in fancy clothes.”
But this year, she won’t have as much time to entertain her friends at her home in New York City.
Instead, the comedienne will be hosting and entertaining the masses in multiple cities including her first stop ever in Atlanta. She will sing tunes from her big-band/jazz-inflected album "Sugar and Booze" and joke around with her fans at City Winery Atlanta this Thursday, December 5. (Tickets available here.)
“My show will be like a cocktail party,” she promised. “I usually encourage people to sneak in schnapps. In this case, they can order it by the glass.”
How good a singer is she? Rumors abound she is among the final seven on Fox’s current season of “The Masked Singer” as the Tree.
"There is a lot of speculation, and I am going to leaf you in the dark," she recently told EW.
She said she asked her tour manager to create some dates in the South.
“I really fought to tour down there,” said the New Yorker. “I wanted to perform in Atlanta and Nashville, which both have City Winery outposts. I haven’t toured much in the South but I love it. I hope I can get some crowds out there for a fun, ridiculous show.”
“I want the crowd to come out and have a great relaxing evening,” she added. “It’s a really festive show. We put a lot of time, heart and soul. We took more than two years to develop the material. I’m a cocktail jazz singer. It’s happy jazz and the holidays have all these great songbook writers like Irving Berlin. The originals have this throwback sassy attitude.”
She plans to play all 14 tracks from her album "Sugar & Booze" and extra holiday favorites. "Everybody likes a sing-along right in the middle," she said. "We're still in the experimental swing. You'll be in the middle of the tour. Maybe by then, we'll bust out the kazoos!"
One of the songs on "Sugar & Booze" is a duet with her fellow "SNL" alum Maya Rudolph called "Secret Santa."
“She’s a fantastic harmonizer,” Gasteyer said. “I was very lucky she said yes. We were like the Andrews Sisters.”
As for the booze, while Gasteyer will be at a place that specializes in wine, she prefers whiskey and bourbon in the winter months.
“It’s also a great time of year for champagne,” she said. “You have to have Christmas punch and cocktails. You want to drink a long period without getting too schloshed. I like to make a combo of champagne and cranberry juice.”
This passion project will take her on the talk-show rounds. “I’m doing Seth Meyers, the ‘Today Show,’” she said. “I’m talking up Kimmel and ‘The Talk.’ I’m very proud. We worked really hard on this.”
Even 17 years removed from “SNL,” she still watches the sturdy comedy show and thinks they’re in a really great place at the moment. “There's always this great sense of relief when a cast settles in like that,” she said.
Gasteyer left as a regular just before Atlanta native and longest-running "SNL" cast member ever Kenan Thompson arrived in 2003 but "I have crossed paths with him when I go back. He's a remarkable comedian. I admire him."
IN CONCERT
Ana Gasteyer
8 p.m., Thursday, December 5, 2019
$30-$45
City Winery Atlanta
650 North Ave., Ponce City Market, Atlanta
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