Joel Hatch on Hello, Dolly!

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Joel Hatch has a very impressive resume. As of this writing,he is currently appearing on Broadway in the current revisal of Annie. He has also appeared in BillyElliot, Adding Machine, and Annie Warbucks.  Joel also played Horace Vandergelder oppositeAlene Robertson’s Dolly Levi in Hello,Dolly!Joel’s first memories of Hello,Dolly are of Louis Armstrong’s recording of the song Hello, Dolly and the movie. He had never seen the musical on stageuntil he did it. The first time he saw it was the movie. He loved the movie. Heis glad he had not seen it on stage prior to doing it. That allowed him a lotof freedom to figure out what he desired to do with Horace. He wasn’tinfluenced by anybody else. As of this writing, he has only done the oneproduction of Hello, Dolly! He also did Gypsywith her after that production. Dominic Missimi directed Dolly at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL in the ‘90s. Hello, Dollycontinues to succeed because its story drawn from The Matchmaker is one of the finest shows ever written.  TheMatchmaker was a perfect play to musicalize. Alene and Joel had a great mature on stage relationship thatfared very well for Dolly and Horace. They had a very good comfort level witheach other on stage that allowed them to play freely and trust each other. Thatallowed for a lot of spontaneity on stage.
Joel thinks that it is time for a Broadway revisal withsomeone that will take it in a completely new direction. When there is such astrong stamp on a show by such a brilliant and wonderful actress, one has to goin a completely different direction. Of course, Dolly has to be someone who hasgreat comedic ability as well as heart. There is a great vulnerability that isneeded, especially at the end of act one when she has her chat with herdeceased husband.

Alene Robertson and waiters

One thing that Alene and Joel looked forward to eachperformance was the eating scene. They had been doing comedy together for solong that that scene really allowed them to play off of each other. The key isto have a really great time. The chemistry between Dolly and Horace HAS towork. The audience has to believe that love/hate relationship and that lovewill overcome that. Joel fell in love in Hello, Dolly by doing it. It is onething to see a show; it is a completely different experience doing it and toexplore it from the inside out. That allows an actor to go, “My God, this is abrilliant piece.” Joel also loved his off stage moments with Alene. Duringthose days, she was a smoker. She would do this funny little thing where shewould go into to the hallway where they were allowed to smoke and do her“warm-up” by taking the cigarette and taking a puff, breathing in through thecigarette, and going, “Ah! Ah!! Ah!!!” doing her scales with the puff ofcigarette! It was hilarious to see her do this. The entire chase scene throughthe Harmonia Gardens was fun for Joel. Dominic and Joel spent a lot of time going back to thesource material, to ground Horace. It is very easy to make Horace a caricatureand/or a cartoon instead of a real man. The audience needs to understand wherehis pain comes from and his loneliness and what his needs are. 

The only other Dolly Joel has seen, Barbra!

That helps youunderstand the comedy a lot better. It also helps you understand why he has therelationship he has with Barnaby and Cornelius. All of this clarifies thevarious relationships with the other characters he interacts with in the piece,especially with Dolly. When one understands his background and where hisfeelings and emotions come from, that will give a justification to come at herfull throttle.
They had a ten week run with Dolly. Joel and Alene continued to tweak their performances as theshow continues. They were constantly finding new things to play.

Alene Robertson

There are some actors that actors may find themselves withon stage who are not really there emotionally and/or mentally. They are insidetheir heads somewhere thinking about how they look or how they presentthemselves. He never had that with Alene. She was always right there in themoment with him. There is nothing she enjoys more than playing, the fun of eachmoment. She was always there catching his eye. There would be a glimmer in hereye and they were off and running. Getting able to work with a fellow actorthat is that spontaneous is an absolute joy. It doesn’t happen that often.Nancy Missimi, Dominic’s wife, was the costume designer. Everyone was extremely lucky at the Marriott. The theater was in the round. Alot of money was not spent building beautiful tableaux behind the cast. Thecostumes, for the most part, were the sets in terms for setting the tone forwhere they were. The Marriott always invested a great deal of money into thecostumes. Nancy was brilliant with period costumes and giving the actors a bettersense of who their characters were. It is certainly helpful when an actor isplaying someone like Horace to have a costume that establishes that characterjust as the actor walks on stage. Nancy has a great sense of humor as adesigner as well as a great sense of style. They had gorgeous costumes for theshow. The thing that is important to remember with theater in theround is that an actor can never turn upstage! The actor really has to bepresent for that audience at all times which forces the actor to be morehonest. He or she can’t have a moment where they turn away and giggle. Theyhave to be in the character in the moment at all times. Slip up and some memberof the audience will see it. This is the greatest education any actor couldhave. 

Joseph Marzullo/WENN
theatermania.com

That informs an actor on what their discipline should be going forwardwith other productions whether they are on a Broadway stage or on any otherstage. Joel does not think there is a “worst thing” about working in the round.There is always going to be someone who can’t see the actor’s face and thatface projects emotion. That, therefore, teaches the actor to use their fullbody to project emotion. What it does is challenge an actor in ways that theproscenium stage does not.  The thing that is brilliant about Hello, Dolly is that it is so true to the original source material.The source material is a story of such great heart and emotion as well ascomedy. It allows people to have a night of mot only light entertainment, but astory that asks great questions about relationships. It is a full rich eveningfor audiences. That is what the theater should always be trying to accomplish.One of the challenges of doing theater every night, Joel hasbeen lucky in that regard, is that he rarely sees theater. He hasn’t seen otheractresses play Dolly other than Streisand. He loved her, thinking she had greatheart. He loved her in the performance. He loved her on screen relationshipwith Matthau. Alene Robertson is a well known actress in the Chicago area.Every show has to be tailored to whoever is playing the lead. Period. That istrue if Bernadette Peters is playing the role or Katie Finnerman or ANYONEelse, for that matter. It is not a cookie cutter show. The show has to meet theactress where she is and she has to bring her life experiences to the table.That is true of any actor playing any role. Joel only met Jerry Herman once. It happened when he wasworking on the sequel to Annie. AleneRobertson was also in that production. They spent about a year and a half onthat production on the road and off-Broadway at the Variety Arts Theater in1993. Jerry Herman came backstage one night. He came up to the dressing room. It was an off-Broadway dressing room that everyone shared. Harvey Evans and DonnaMcKechnie were also in that cast. Jerry Herman spent about twenty minutes chattingwith the company. He was appreciative and supportive and everybody felt betterafter he left. It was a very warm supportive chat. One of the things that Joel has had to do with both of hisroles opposite Alene, Herbie in Gypsyand Horace, is to make them three dimensional. In The Matchmaker, there is more to the character of Horace than thereis in Hello, Dolly!  Cuts were made here and there to put the emphasison the character of Dolly to make the story work in her favor. One of thechallenges was in creating a Horace that was three dimensional, one that is areal human being and not a gruff character. As state earlier, that reallyrelied heavily on The Matchmaker andcarried those feelings over to Hello, Dolly’s Horace. The thing that Joel loves about Great American Musicalswhich is our great art form, along with jazz, is that they have integrity andthey have heart. Hello, Dolly hasboth in spades. 

Mary Martin, one of many Dollys

It is a dream to get a chance to do it. There are certainmusicals that have been touchstones throughout the history of the Americanmusical theater that have set the standard for how we view musicals and havemoved the art form forward. Hello, Dolly is one of those musicals because ittells a story that is rich in its ideas, rich in its heart, and rich in itsartistry.  

Thank you Joel Hatch for the gifts you have given to the world and continue to give!


With grateful XOXOXs ,


Check out my site celebrating my forthcoming book on Hello, Dolly!
I want this to be a definitive account of Hello, Dolly!  If any of you reading this have appeared in any production of Dolly, I'm interested in speaking with you!


If you have anything to add or share, please contact me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com.


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Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!    
                My next blog will be...My exclusive interview with Ellen Travolta on Hello, Dolly!


Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog!

  Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!


TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAYRichard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com                              
This Blog is dedicated to ALL THE DOLLYS and ANYONE who has EVER had a connection with ANY of them on ANY Level!