The Horizons team caught up with several Graceland graduates shining bright in Hollywood and beyond.
Our graduates go on to accomplish great things in a multitude of fields — from political science to business to education to medicine, alumni can be found around the globe in virtually every single industry. For this issue of Horizons, to celebrate the launch of Graceland’s exciting new Performing Arts major, we sat down with a few folks who are actively working and succeeding in the challenging and constantly evolving entertainment industry.
Pictured, left to right:
David Yost, MA, ’91 Best known for portraying Billy Cranston in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show and films, Yost is one of Graceland’s most recognizable faces. His portrayal of the blue Power Ranger has spanned over thirty years, most recently in the Netflix 30th anniversary special, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always.”
Douglas Graves, MM, ’91 Graves has been a sound designer and sound engineer on some of the biggest shows on Broadway, including Wicked and Kimberly Akimbo. He spent time at NBC as the sound mixer for the Today Show’s Morning Concerts and has put out two albums as a recording artist.
Alissa Neubauer, MFA, ’00 Neubauer worked for Warner Brothers and Chuck Lorre Productions for 18 years, including credits on Two and a Half Men and Mom. During her time with those shows, she served as a script coordinator, writer, co-producer, and co-executive producer. Most recently, she was the showrunner for Call Me Kat, starring Mayim Bialik.
Dave Hettrick ’02 As perhaps one of the only Gracelanders to go through NBC’s famous Page Program, Dave then worked on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for a decade. He has produced for talk shows on Netflix and is a four-time Emmy winner as a producer for The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Douglas Graves at the mixing console after a show.
DOUGLAS GRAVES: Two Winter Terms in 1988 and 1990 were the start of me pursuing a career in theatre. My interest in composing music for plays, and in turn doing sound effects, was bolstered by Dr. Gary Heisserer, who had me score several shows. I went on to get my Master’s of Music Composition at Bowling Green State University. I returned to Kansas City to work as the mixer at The New Theatre in Overland Park before moving on to working at The American Heartland Theatre. In the fall of 1994, I began the sound design program at the Yale School of Drama. At Yale, I received my first professional sound credits from the Adirondack Theatre Festival. I also worked a summer at the famous rock club Toad’s Place in New Haven. I was pulled to New York City and ended up working at Sound Associates, who helped me get my first job on Broadway as an assistant sound designer on the play, Wait Until Dark, starring Marisa Tomei, Stephen Lang, and Quentin Tarantino.
ALISSA NEUBAUER: I first moved to Atlanta and worked as a technical recruiter living with a fellow Graceland alum. Before the year was up, the dot com decline caught up with our company and I was laid off. Completely unsure what to do with my life, and encouraged by a supportive dad, I decided that following my passion would be my next step. Getting my MFA in Film and TV Production at Chapman University — just a stone’s throw from Los Angeles — really helped to demystify Hollywood and to get me ready for my future career. In my second year at Chapman, I did an internship for a few days on the first season of Two and A Half Men and when they needed a Production Assistant (PA) for season two, they called me. I jumped at the chance to get coffee for some of the best comedy writers in the business. Little did they know that I would never leave. I stayed with Chuck Lorre Productions for 18 years and worked my way up from a PA who got coffee and lunch to a Writer/Co-executive Producer. Taking all that invaluable experience, I went on to be Executive Producer/Showrunner for Season 2 of Call Me Kat on FOX. I would have never thought that a girl from Blue Springs who went to college in Lamoni, Iowa, could one day write on a network television show, let alone run one. But here we are.
DAVID YOST: I have always wanted to be an actor since I was seven years old. So, consciously and unconsciously, that was always my focus growing up. Even when I was at Graceland, I always knew in the back of my mind that I would move to Los Angeles and give it my best shot to become a television actor. So, like many hopeful actors, I moved to LA and started getting auditions. Within three months of being in the city, I landed an audition for a starring role on a TV show called Phantoms, which eventually was renamed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I had eight auditions over the course of six weeks and eventually landed the role of Billy, the Blue Ranger. I have starred in over 200 episodes, a feature film, and a Netflix special for the franchise, which has been a global phenomenon. Something no one could’ve predicted.
“Even when I was at Graceland, I always knew in the back of my mind that I would move to Los Angeles and give it my best shot to become a television actor.”
DAVID YOST, MA, ’91
Dave Hettrick just casually taking a photo with Jay Leno.
DAVE HETTRICK: After my junior year at Graceland, I got an internship in Los Angeles at Fox Sports in their Public Relations (PR) department. That was my first taste of not just entertainment, but big corporation, industry-type work. And it was great, but I realized I didn’t want to do PR; I liked more of the creative production side. After I graduated, I moved to Texas and worked at Fox Sports in Houston, but that was all on the technical side. A year later, I got into the NBC training program – the Page Program – later made famous by the show 30 Rock. And it was the exact same uniform that the character wears! The program is a one-year-long TV internship where you do a little bit of everything. You’re an assistant, you give tours of the NBC lot, and you see everything the industry has to offer. By that point, I knew I wanted to work in production, and after the Page Program, I was able to get a full-time job with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I worked with him for nine years until he retired.
NEUBAUER: Probably the first time I went to The Emmys. I was working on Two and a Half Men as an assistant and we were nominated for Best Comedy. A few of the writers were unable to attend and my boss invited us to come in their stead. There was so much talent in one building, just being in that room was electrifying and inspiring.
GRAVES: I have several. My name is in the script for the play Fully Committed, since I was the sound designer for the premiere production at the Adirondack Theatre Festival. In the summer of 1997, I got to mix/sound design An Evening with Jerry Herman. So, for seven weeks, I got to work with the composer of shows like Mame, La Cage aux Folles, and Hello Dolly. When I was mixing Wicked on Broadway, we were fundraising for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS and to get a certain auction item a higher bid, Joel Grey (The Wizard) offered to sing a verse and chorus of “Cabaret.” The goal was reached, the piano started, Mr. Grey just began to sing, and the hair on my arms stood up!
HETTRICK: There are several from The Tonight Show, like walking around Hollywood with Mark Hamill for a day or even just getting to know Jay Leno. With the Kelly Clarkson Show, we’ve won four Emmys, which was definitely surreal since I was one of the few people who got to go up on stage to accept the award.
YOST: I have been blessed and fortunate enough to have landed on a television series that has had such amazing longevity. I am flown all around the world and I get to hear so many amazing stories from fans about how Power Rangers has influenced their life, even 30 years later. So my answer: it is a constant for me. I came from a small university in Iowa and now I’m so humbled by the enormous fan base my show has on a global level.
HETTRICK: I think honestly it’s the body of work, right? To come from Kansas City, then Graceland, and then to be selected for the Page Program when I knew absolutely no one in LA. There are only 30 people each year, and I got to be one. And then to have a 20-plus-year career in the industry — I’m very proud of that.
GRAVES: Theatre-wise, I feel that my involvement with the tour of Fun Home is something that was very important to me. It is such an amazing piece of theatre, and to share that around the country felt very sacred. Music-wise, I’ve put out two CDs, and I get the biggest kick when friends tell me that a track has popped up on SiriusXM Spa Channel.
YOST: I have a lot of things to be proud of … as we all should. Sometimes just getting through a day can be something to be proud of. For me, I’m most proud that I came to terms with who I am as a gay person, albeit later in life and with great difficulty. I struggled for many years, and it took a nervous breakdown to bring me to my knees, but it got me to the place where I could stop pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I’m proud of the man I have created in my truth.
Alissa Neubauer celebrates filming the 100th episode of the CBS sitcom, “Mom.”
“Mom was such an important show…The idea that something we were putting out into the world was having such a positive influence was amazing. Plus, we got to make people laugh.”
ALISSA NEUBAUER, MFA, ’00
NEUBAUER: The thing I am most proud of so far is my writing and producing work on all eight seasons of the CBS sitcom, Mom. Mom was such an important show — it showed how getting sober and overcoming addiction is possible and that recovery can change your life. We would have people come up to us and say that they went to their first AA meeting because of the show. The idea that something we were putting out into the world was having such a positive influence was amazing. Plus, we got to make people laugh.
YOST: My time at Graceland was amazing in many ways. The lifelong friendships I created at Graceland stick with me the most. I learned what true friendship is and I am always able to fall back on many of those friendships to center me and keep me aligned when I can easily get caught up in the “game of Hollywood.”
NEUBAUER: My classmates, professors, and coaches at Graceland were always kind, always ready to help, and really felt like a family away from home. As a showrunner, I definitely apply these values to my leadership style. Everyone who works for me is important, from the star of the show down to the person who gets the coffee, everyone deserves kindness and respect and I think this is something I carry with me from my days at Graceland. Well, that and some pretty good stories that inspired comedic scenes and jokes throughout my career, but I’m not sure the editors of Horizons or the school leadership would want me to share most of those. Editor’s note: As one of Ms. Neubauer’s close friends during her time at Graceland, this is a fact.
Lifelong friends Dave Hettrick and Michael Morain ’01 catching up at The Dairy Cup in Lamoni.
HETTRICK: Even when I came here, I didn’t feel overmatched. The English department was incredible — Jerry DeNuccio, Jon Wallace, and Barb [Hiles Mesle ’72] – and Graceland is so diverse, which is unusual, I don’t think people realize that. It helped me know how to talk to people from every different background. One of my good friends on Closson was from Nepal, one was from New Zealand. I got to interact with many people that I wouldn’t get to at a different school.
This is a fun side story, but I got Michael Morain’s Gay Men’s Chorus to be on Kelly Clarkson. They were doing a concert last May where they were only doing Kelly Clarkson songs. And unknown to Michael or even me, they submitted it to one of the producers. Michael called me and we took it to the producing team and they loved it. We got all the video we needed and Michael and I were laughing afterward and saying, “That’s the Graceland connection.”
“…Graceland is so diverse, which is unusual, I don’t think people realize that. It helped me know how to talk to people from every different background.”
DAVE HETTRICK ’02
GRAVES: I will always go back to the liberal arts emphasis of my time at Graceland. I had a big ‘Aha!’ moment my junior year in Modern European history. I made the connection of how the politics of Europe in the early part of the 20th century influenced the music and theatre of that time. When I made that connection, because I had taken Music History my freshman year, it was the discovery that art/music/etc. doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There is so much that goes into influencing the artistic output of a period. So, when I was doing the Master of Arts in Religion through Graceland, and Dr. Chvala-Smith explained the exegetical process (the idea of lenses, audience, translation, etc.), the process spoke to me about theatre. How one tells a story to the public in a new way is what theatre is basically. Whether it’s a new piece or a piece that’s been done a thousand times, what is the voice that this group of artists is bringing forward at this time and place?
Douglas Graves celebrates opening night of “Days of Wine and Roses” on Broadway.
NEUBAUER: I am currently working with the late Norman Lear’s production company and Sony Pictures Television to sell a new sitcom idea. We are out pitching the show and looking for a buyer in the streaming world. Coming out of the writers’ and actors’ strikes last year, the market has been tight, but it’s a great pitch and we hope to get a buyer. Time will tell.
GRAVES: In August, I’ll begin helping to prepare the national tour of Kimberly Akimbo, and I’ll be helping to launch it with the sound team. The official opening is in Denver, September 27, 2024.
“I will always go back to the liberal arts emphasis of my time at Graceland. I had a big ‘Aha!’ moment my junior year…it was the discovery that art/music/etc. doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There is so much that goes into influencing the artistic output of a period.”
DOUGLAS GRAVES, MM, ’91
HETTRICK: So, I just left the Kelly Clarkson Show and am now working at Silver Tribe Media helping to produce podcasts for several athletes. I help produce Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” which gained notoriety recently as his interview with Katt Williams became one of the most-watched YouTube interviews of all time. But I produce for several different shows, including [NBA player] Draymond Green’s.
David Yost alongside original black Power Ranger, Walter E. Jones for the Netflix special, “Once and Always.” [Photo credit: Entertainment Weekly]
YOST: Most recently, I spent three months working in New Zealand filming the 30th Anniversary special for the Power Rangers franchise entitled, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always. From there, I stayed on and starred in the 30th season of Power Rangers, which is entitled Cosmic Fury. Both projects currently stream on Netflix. I have also been working on some of my own projects and I am currently trying to sell a TV series I created entitled Common Terry. It revolves around a former investigative journalist turned college professor who, along with two of his students, have been enlisted by an otherworldly being named Max to save planet Earth from a hostile alien takeover. It’s a sci-fi, dark comedy, thriller.
Thank you to all of you for being a part of this story. Your successes are incredible, and we are so fortunate to call you Graceland graduates. Blue and Gold forever!
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The Horizons team received lots of submissions for who should be featured as a part of this story. There are so many talented Yellowjackets doing amazing things in the world of entertainment, but we have limited space. That said, if you have a great story you’d like to see in an upcoming issue, be sure to reach out to alumni@graceland.edu with your own Graceland tale to tell.
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