Actor Joel Hatch visits home, reflects on career
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TRIMONT -- Joel Hatch, an award-winning actor who's performed on Broadway, New York, Chicago and Twin Cities stages, returned home to Martin County for a visit last week.
His brother is a resident at Goldfinch Estates in Fairmont, and Hatch has other friends in the area.
"I come back once or twice a year. It's just like being home again. It's so easy to talk to everybody because you all have a common shared background. I'm very, very lucky for that group of friends," Hatch said.
He grew up on a farm by Trimont and attended what was then Trimont High School. Because his mother was involved in the 4-H Extension, one of Hatch's first “performances” was exhibiting steer, holding cutting demonstrations and joining the formed singing group, "The Searchers," named because the group was searching for a name, in 4-H at the county and state fairs.
In addition, Hatch was involved with the music and youth programs at Waverly Lutheran Church in Trimont. He made other connections with people from surrounding communities.
"There are two influential people. Ragnall Johnson was the piano teacher and organist at the church, and her daughter, Joyce Sheppard, was the choir director. The music program at Waverly was incredibly strong, and some really good young musicians came out of that program," Hatch said.
He then advanced his education to Concordia College, a liberal arts college in Moorhead.
"At first, I thought I was going to be a music major. Then, I decided on a music minor. Then, I pulled out of it altogether. I was in the choir at Concordia, under Paul Christiansen. But, for some reason, it wasn't as joyous as I thought it'd be. And my senior year of college at Concordia, I dropped out of choir."
In the 1976 to 1977 academic year, Concordia College hosted a musical, Rodger and Hammerstein's "South Pacific."
"I thought, well, that's kind of a new thing for me. I mean, in Trimont, we didn't do musicals, you know? We'd do little skits and other things, but not really theater. So, I auditioned, and they gave me the lead role of Emil Beck, and because I had the baritone voice to sing the role," Hatch recounted. "I started getting interested in theater at that very late point in college. Because I spent four years of college, they didn't quite know what to do with me, and I had this major, because I really couldn't figure out what it was I wanted to do."
Hatch says he still loved music, but took an English literature class on William Shakespeare, which prompted him to sign up for a five-week seminar in England, including a production of "Macbeth" on a three-quarter stage, performed by a small cast that included Ian McKellen as "Macbeth" and Judy Dench as "Lady Macbeth."
"My mind exploded, because I was seeing the best actors of the day on stage. Years later, I looked up some of the productions. I knew I was seeing really great stuff, but I didn't know who I was seeing. I thought, 'This is crazy. I've never seen it like this before.' It was so clear to me; it was so exciting. [The professor] took us to all these productions, and I look back, and I go, 'Oh, my God, I saw that person, I saw that.' No wonder I fell in love with it," Hatch said.
Next, Hatch was a choir and youth program director for two years at a Lutheran church in Hibbing, working with junior and senior high school students. Acclaimed for his exceptional baritone vocals, Hatch was scouted by the director of the Mesabi Opera Company.
"'Would you like to be in our opera company?' and I thought, 'Yeah, that'd be fun.' I sang opera parts for them and then towards the end of those two years there, he said, 'The University of Minnesota has a program for an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree. You don't have to have a theater background. You getting into the program is all based on an audition," Hatch explained.
He was in the program from 1978 to 1981. Three years later, Hatch possessed an MFA in acting and tethered into the theater scene in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
"You can't plan these things. These things just come your way and you have to just be open to them. I was lucky I had parents who were supportive of it. I was also lucky that I made enough money to survive, so I didn't, you know, quit and despair, which happens to a lot of people. Minneapolis is a great place to do theater," he said.
In Minneapolis, Hatch got his Actor's Equity Association card during Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of "My Fair Lady," where he was understudying the characters. He also worked at the Children's Theatre Company and did character work for the musicals at Minnesota Opera, among other theater jobs.
"That's kind of how I started catching up with the rest of the actors. You learn a lot really, really fast. Hopefully, you learn the right things, not the wrong things, but that was a great, great experience for me," Hatch said.
Around 1990, his career expanded to Chicago, where he devoted 20 years. He auditioned at Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre and was cast in a character role and repeatedly rehired. The theater housed him in the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort and he performed in a dozen productions, which put his foot in the door in the city.
In addition, he worked in musical houses in Chicago, performed at Peninsula Players in Door County, Wis., portraying "Joe Keller" in "All My Sons."
He was hired frequently by the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and worked at Writers Theatre, a 50-seat theater in the back of a bookstore that insisted on paying actors main-stage salaries. In Chicago, he built a strong theater repertoire, working in many theaters with MacArthur Fellows Program and Tony Award-winning directors.
"You know, there's a lot of Chicago gave me just a really good basis. I got a lot of classical training there. I got a lot of straight theater, especially in tiny spaces, which actually helped me later on when I came to New York," Hatch said.
His friend, Josh Schmidt, composed the musical "Adding Machine" and wrote the character, "Mr. Zero," for Hatch to portray. The musical premiered in 2007. A producer from New York saw the production and brought it off-Broadway to the Minetta Lane Theatre in 2008, pivoting Hatch to New York, N.Y.
Hatch recalled many people coming from far and wide to see his performance, including composer Stephen Sondheim. He was awarded the Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor Off-Broadway.
Hatch hadn't initially planned to move to New York, deeming himself an actor who belonged to Chicago, but the acclaim opened doors for theater and television.
In New York he secured an agent who submitted him for a musical imported from London, "Billy Elliot." Because a character actor dropped out, the team behind the musical, which was aware of "Adding Machine"'s success, was looking to work with him. After a 45-minute audition, Hatch got the call and officially secured a role and a career on Broadway.
"You just kind of pinch yourself because it's kind of hard to believe," Hatch shared. "But at the end of the day, it's the same as every other theater. Just a lot more talented people. You're doing the same thing; you're just doing it for a large audience under a lot of pressure. I was very, very thankful for all my years in Chicago, because if I had been brand new at acting, and walking into that, that would have been really hard."
In between on-stage works, Hatch took on roles in television and commercials, including season one of "Succession," and "Boardwalk Empire" scenes with Steve Buscemi. Throughout the years he's performed in "Elementary," "The Blacklist" and more.
Among Hatch's notable productions and impressive amount of work, he performed "Come from Away" as "Mayor Claude Elliot" for seven years at The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
Reflecting on the scope of his career, Hatch said it is a wonderful experience to share a professional stage with actors who share the same drive as him.
"You immediately had this community of people that all shared the same passion and, boy oh boy, that’s better than any drug you can possibly imagine. There’s nothing like a community of people who are all working towards the same thing." Hatch said.
In 2022, Hatch waved farewell and moved to Connecticut.
For encores, Hatch explained he takes the train to New York to do script readings for new plays with other actors. He will join a special reunion outdoor concert version of "Come from Away" on Sept. 13 at the World Trade Center campus in New York, N.Y., for the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11. He plans to volunteer on the Intrepid in New York on Sept. 11 for disaster relief and perform for fellow volunteers.
When asked for advice for aspiring performers, Hatch encourages all to read many books. Stepping into the roles of many characters, Hatch cites the importance of actors keeping their true persona and individuality.