It’s no surprise when graduates from colleges and universities in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago land work in those big cities on the stage or the screen.
Now, Westfield State can be considered among their ranks. Lately, University alumni have been taking over the small screen and the stage in a number of roles, both on and off camera.
From friendly competitions for recording contracts or million dollar prizes to scripted shows about the development of serial killers, Westfield State alumni are making their mark on television. And they all credit the University with getting
them started.
Outwit, outplay, outclass
By Laura Phelon ’11
Dreams do come true. Just ask Trish Hegarty ’88.
Ever since the debut of Survivor in 2000, Hegarty has wanted to compete on the reality show, in which contestants in isolated wilderness settings enter into physical competitions—and competitions of wit—for cash and other prizes.
“Survivor is a perfect human experiment, and I love people,” Hegarty says. “I’m mentally and physically strong, so it’s something I knew I’d be good at.”
After 10 years, seven audition tapes and two different callbacks, Hegarty made it on the 28th season, “Survivor: Cagayan—Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty,” which aired on CBS this spring.
Contestants are normally divided into two “tribes,” but this season had a twist. Contestants were separated into three tribes based on three different characteristics: brawn, brains and beauty. Hegarty was cast on the Brawn tribe, which didn’t surprise her.
“I was very excited,” Hegarty says. “It felt like it was the best tribe to be on, and it was a perfect fit for me.”
Hegarty earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Westfield State and taught in a school setting for a few years before deciding to combine her two passions of teaching and fitness and open up her own exercise studio.
Her muscular yet slim build caused other contestants to misjudge her, as she was picked as the weakest member of her tribe on day one.
“I definitely felt like I had something to prove,” Hegarty says. “They underestimated me by my body type. It’s something I’m not accustomed to, and it
was humbling.”
Being the team player that she is, Hegarty formed an alliance with some of her fellow Brawn tribe mates and proved her strength and determination.
Hegarty’s social game strategy played off well, and she quickly rose to power with her alliance, helping orchestrate moves and a few “blindsides”—in which a tribe member is voted off without any knowledge or suspicion of the vote. Though she had the opportunity to vote him out, Hegarty decided to remain loyal to her number one alliance member, Tony.
Tony did not return the loyalty, but in the end, Hegarty did vote for him to win. “I was disappointed in him…but he played the game the hardest, and he deserved to win,” Hegarty says.
In the future, Hegarty hopes to do some motivational speaking about her experience on Survivor and the importance of following your dreams, regardless of how impossible they may seem.
“My dream was to get on Survivor, and I never gave up,” she says, noting it’s a point she often stresses to her two teenage daughters. “Now, I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life.” \
Surviving on the West Coast
By Matt A. Durant ’15
Two weeks after he received his diploma, Jacob Teixeira ’04 made preparations for the next chapter in his life. He packed up his car and drove from Eastern Massachusetts across the country to Southern California.
“I could write a novel about the transition from East to West Coast, but I will simply say this: it was exciting,” he says.
When he reached the western shores, Teixeira took on several production jobs; however, his most consistent work came from the reality television series Survivor, which has aired since 2000.
Through this work, he’s been afforded the opportunity to travel the world, seeing nine different countries, including Guatemala, Panama, the Cook Islands, Fiji, China, Palau, Brazil, Samoa and Africa. On his personal website, Teixeira comments on his experiences in these locations. “I’m so happy and grateful to have gotten the chance to experience the entirety of an enormous multi-national production/post-production process. It made me confident in my ability to understand what is needed during each part of the filmmaking process and apply it to my own projects in the near future.”
Teixeira grew up in Dartmouth, a heavily Portuguese neighborhood. He credits this environment with helping him develop a strong love for stories and movies, and a desire to continue his studies in the field. This passion for film is what led him to Westfield State; he graduated in 2004, earning a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration in media arts.
“I was ready to spread my wings,” says Teixeira of his journey to California and his work on Survivor.
Of course, the alum also recognizes the significance of his choices.
“When I first got to L.A., it wasn’t so much about making movies, it was about surviving,” he says.
Though clearly thankful for the experiences of his past, Teixeira is presently keeping a watchful eye on his future.
“My current goal is to break away from working on other people’s productions and form my own production company.”
Finding his ‘Voice’
By Laura Phelon ’11
Noah Lis ’14 discovered his passion at age 3. His love for music dates back to when he began singing as a toddler. His grandfather, who had a raw musical gift that he didn’t have the opportunity to explore, urged both Lis and Lis’ parents to pursue his talent.
Lis began piano lessons at age 6 and shortly thereafter began exploring the saxophone. His lessons consisted of classical training, and when he mentioned to his teacher that he wanted to play contemporary music, his teacher urged him to teach himself.
So he did.
Lis began a self-study of different aspects of piano, including chord progressions and the art of singing and playing at the same time. After much practice, he decided to take his passion to the small screen. He auditioned for American Idol three times and auditioned for America’s Got Talent while he was still in high school. He made it to the third round but was ultimately cut, despite receiving a “yes” from judge Sharon Osborne.
After graduating from high school, Lis was faced with the decision of attending either Berklee College of Music or Westfield State University. Lis chose Westfield State. He was on track to graduate in fall 2013, but his education got delayed when he passed his audition for NBC’s The Voice and was flown to Los Angeles to compete on the show.
One of the last contestants chosen, Lis auditioned with the rhythm and blues hit “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Judges Adam Levine and Blake Shelton were the only two left with slots for their teams, and both turned their chairs during Lis’ performance.
Lis chose Team Blake because he felt that Blake Shelton had a similar mentality towards music.
“You don’t have to be a powerhouse vocalist to be a good vocalist,” Lis says. “You can take an easy song and make it dynamically pleasing, and Blake understood that.” After making it through the blind auditions, Lis was paired up against Kaleigh Glanton and performed a duet of “Everything” by Michael Bublé. Lis was eliminated as Glanton moved ahead in the competition.
Despite an early exit on the show, Lis said he gained a lot from the experience.
“It was an enriching experience to be around so many different musicians and build a repertoire of information,” Lis says. He says he learned something new from each performer, producer and judge. “We are learning until the day we die.”
Lis continues to perform at venues across New England, booking an average of 300 gigs per year, and has no plans of slowing down.
“I don’t want to work in a cubicle and do music on the side; I want to make music my full-time career,” Lis says. “Music is what I was born to do. It’s the gift and the love that I was given.”
Welcome to Bates Motel
By Laura Phelon ’11
It takes courage to turn down a job offer right out of college, but that’s what Anthony Cipriano ’97 did.
After completing an internship at The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Cipriano was offered a position as a production assistant on the show just after graduating from Westfield State.
“I realized quickly that I wanted to be working in scripted television,” Cipriano says. “Had I stayed, I think I would have ultimately wound up back on the path I am currently on.”
After turning down the opportunity, Cipriano moved across the country to Los Angeles and was quickly hired by Tom Lynch, who produced a number of hit shows on Nickelodeon.
“I was encouraged to write every day,” Cipriano says. “I was put in writers’ rooms and given opportunities to spec scripts for the shows. I was lucky to have those scripts ultimately produced.”
Cipriano wrote for the children’s shows The Journey of Allen Strange, The Jersey, Skate and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd before writing his first feature film, 12 and Holding.
“That was one of the few experiences I have had at creating a completely original story not based on anything else,” Cipriano says. “Seeing the world, the people and conflict come to life is always a wild thing to watch.”
Recently, Cipriano has been working on the hit show Bates Motel, which he pitched nearly a decade ago and which finally got picked up by A&E in 2013. The story follows Norman Bates, the main character from the classic film Psycho, as he develops into the villain he’s known to be today.
“Often my favorite part of a horror film is the back story,” Cipriano says. “That’s where the damage was really done to create the monster.
“Psycho is the story of a serial killer,” Cipriano adds. “Bates Motel is the story of a young man who grows up to become a serial killer.”
In addition to Bates Motel, Cipriano is writing a TV pilot called Sun Valley for Amazon TV.
“It is set in the underside of the San Fernando Valley and follows a brilliant but unconscionably violent street thug on his journey to the top of a criminal conglomerate,” Cipriano says.
Cipriano says he could see himself teaching in the future, but he has no plans to stop pursuing his passion.
“I hope to keep writing,” Cipriano says. “That is my first and last love.”
At the Emmys
By Brad Avery ’14
After completing a bachelor’s degree in theater arts, Roman Alis ’79 delved into his 30-plus year career as an actor working in regional theaters across the country. Most recently, he received an Emmy Award for his work on a short educational documentary called The Bill of Rights, in which he plays a futuristic dictator in a world where the Bill of Rights was never ratified. The following are excerpts from a conversation with Alis on his work.
Q. Tell me about yourself.
A. I was able to perform in many musicals while at Westfield State—You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Pippin, Carousel, Music Man. […]The Theater Department put on a lot of one-act plays, as well as a lot of three acts. I can remember Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a lot of Edward Albee and Eugene O’Neill plays. And then after I finished at Westfield State, I was able to go to New York and receive further training. Eventually I earned a master’s degree at Boston University in acting and directing.
I’ve worked at Stagewest in West Springfield[…] I worked at the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C., and many Midwest regional theaters. And that’s where I started doing some film and television work. I’ve been in Mission Impossible III and Exorcist Part II. Other specials I’ve done include an episode of The Haunting and FBI Files. A lot of PBS documentaries. I did voice-over for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Canada, for which I was nominated for an Emmy. Didn’t get it.
Q. How did it feel to win an Emmy for The Bill of Rights?
A. Oh, it was great. It wasn’t just me that won it; I was part of a team. Our entire film crew and cast won that. …I think it’s a great accomplishment for me, because it helps me if I ever want to teach my craft. It’s a great “in” if I ever wanted to teach at a college or university.
Q. What are you doing now?
I just did a play called Arsenic and Old Lace, and I’ve been doing that across the country. I do a lot of voice-over for historical documentaries, which I’m continuing to do around Virginia. And one of my goals is to work the next Winter Olympics. I’d like to get into working some of the events with ABC Sports.
Fiction no more
By Laura Phelon ’11
Sometimes, it’s best to go back to the basics. Steph DeFerie ’83 grew up acting in community theaters. She attended Westfield State and studied English while continuing to act through the Theatre Arts Department and Musical Theatre Guild.
After graduating from college, DeFerie initially wrote fiction but found she wasn’t writing as much or as often as she should. To get herself out of her rut, she turned back to her theatrical roots and tried playwriting.
It worked; DeFerie found her new genre.
“Playwriting is barebones storytelling, and I really like that,” DeFerie says. “It’s like writing a haiku after writing a long epic poem.”
While DeFerie has written some plays for adults, she mainly writes for children. In addition to the higher demand for children’s productions, DeFerie says she feels that theater is a good opportunity for children to explore.
“It’s a great group activity that’s not competitive,” DeFerie says. “Some kids start off quiet, and after going through several rehearsals, they develop confidence; they blossom. Participating in theater also inspires them to try other creative outlets.”
DeFerie wrote her first children’s play, Once Upon a Wolf, for a friend who was planning a show on Cape Cod. The production fell through, so DeFerie sent the play to other theaters in the area, and it was picked up at the Theater at Manmouth in Maine. An actress suggested that DeFerie submit the piece to Baker’s Plays, a play publishing company. She did, and it was published in 1997.
DeFerie tends to write in the fairy-tale genre and says that writing fantasy has its perks.
“If you get into trouble with your plot, and it’s not realistic, you can just make things up,” DeFerie says.
While DeFerie is drawn to fairy tales, she enjoys taking a classic story and putting a twist on it.
“Sometimes the beautiful princess is a jerk, and the handsome prince is a pain in the butt,” DeFerie says. “I like to flip it around and change the audience’s expectations.”
DeFerie has a partnership with the Chatham Middle School drama club in Chatham and writes plays specifically with the club in mind. For the past 12 years, she’s written plays for the club and works backstage during the productions to ensure they run smoothly.
DeFerie says that allowing others to produce her plays is a leap of faith, but it can be rewarding. “Sometimes it’s scary because a group will do something very different than what I envisioned, but theater is a collaboration,” DeFerie says. “It’s their production, and they can do whatever they want with it. Sometimes they surprise me in a good way. It’s kind of scary, but you take a chance.”
Despite the risk involved, DeFerie says she enjoys seeing her words and actions jump off the pages of her scripts and onto the stage.
“The best thing about writing plays is that people will really say and do the things I write,” DeFerie says.
Although she’s never intentionally starred in plays she’s written, DeFerie has covered for actors who have had to miss performances. She said that it can be a good experience in terms of getting feedback for rewriting her plays to improve them.
“It was fun, but sometimes I realized the lines were hard to say, which is good to know,” DeFerie says.
In total, DeFerie has published 18 plays. Her most popular play, I Hate Shakespeare, has held 279 productions in 20 different countries. Her plays have received numerous recognitions and awards, most recently a nomination for Best Original Script for her play Puss In Boots at the 21st Annual ariZoni Theatre Awards.
DeFerie said that although playwriting is the perfect job for her, a career goal of hers would be to have some of her plays be published as books or made into movies.
“I think some of my plays would translate to page and film quite wonderfully,” DeFerie says. “If anyone from Westfield State has an ‘in’ with Disney, give me a call.”
