"Mad Men" musical revue: The new Rat Pack

Patrick Fischler, aka Jimmy Barrett (pictured below left with Michael Gladis), followed Brie, decked out in his signature white tux and withering sneer. He read the boilerplate verbiage about the event being a fundraiser for the music education program of the L.A. Chapter of the Recording Academy.

"I'm dying up here," he quipped after rattling off that mouthful. "Baton jockey -- play something sexy." And sure enough a lady of burlesque strutted out to do a fan dance around him. She got down to her star-shaped pasties (Murray hipped us to the fact that the fan dancer was the same one who appeared the "Mad Men" seg where the guys and Peggy take a client to a strip joint.)

Of course, who would follow Jimmy but Bobbie Barrett? Melinda McGraw came out bathed in brilliant blue sequins with hair piled high and hard. She brought a Lambert, Hendricks and Ross flavor to "Twisted" ("My analyst told me/that I was right out of my head.") Like I said, the song selection was spot-on!

Robert Morse (pictured at far right below with, from left, Colin Hanks, Bryan Batt and Christina Hendricks), a man who knows his way around a stage, was every bit the daffy Bert Cooper as he came out hailing "The Brotherhood of Man." He stopped halfway through for a shout-out to "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner, who of course was holding court with his posse in the front row.

"We're all his children," Morse told the crowd. "I'm so happy to be with you."

After a round of applause for the Creator, Morse dove into a song he really knows his way around, "I Believe in You" from "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." He sang the hell out of it -- noting a one point that "I haven't hit that note in 40 years" -- and blew Weiner a very theatrical kiss on his way off the stage.

Next up was Maggie Siff, aka Rachel Menken (pictured below right with Bryan Batt), who channeled her inner Ella Fitzgerald as she warbled "Black Coffee." ("I'm hanging out on Monday/My Sunday dreams to dry.") Siff was eye-catching in rust-orange dress.

Crista Flanagan, aka Lois Sadler, was swathed in purple-blue chiffon for her appropriately ditzy number, Irving Berlin's Depression-era spirit-lifter "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee."

Now, we all could have expected that Rialto vet Bryan Batt, aka Salvatore Romano, would steal the show, and steal it he did, with help from four dancing girls dubbed "the Romanos" (one of whom was the actress who plays Paul Kinsey's girlfriend).

Batt turned on the charm to the sultry South American rhythm of "Sway." "Is it hot in here -- or is it just my girls," he teased as he twirled each one across the stage.

Finally, the evening ended with a clap-along folksy rave up from -- who else? -- Colin Hanks, aka Father Gill, who brought out his acoustic and was accompanied by Dar Williams on "Early in the Morning." (My Variety colleague and companion last night Brian Cochrane points out that it's the same tune Father Gill does at the end of the seg "Three Sundays.")

"I have a feeling there are a lot of sinners in the house tonight," Hanks said. "Thank you for indulging us."

All of the other performers came back out for a final chorus with Hanks and Williams, which brought the crowd to its feet. The onlookers included Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway), Aaron Staton (Ken Cosgrove), Edin Gali (Kurt) and Darby Stanchfield (Helen Bishop).

And here's how we know the "Mad Men" troupers were having a good time. After spending an hour or so at the El Rey pressing the flesh and collecting compliments, a bunch of them decamped to the Chateau Marmont for still more fun, off stage.

(Pictured right, "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner and composer David Carbonara.)