A. I’m from Medfield. I don’t usually say it because often when I do, people say, “Oh, I know it.” I say, “It’s so small I’m not sure you do.” Then they say, “Yeah, Tufts, Medford.” So I know they don’t know it. And it’s OK to say Boston. My dog is named Fenway Bark.

Q. How did your dreams of being a singer turn into an acting career?

A. Actually, I did some acting very early. The first show I ever did was “Caps for Sale,” when I was in day care, and around that time I was an angel in a nativity play. In high school I auditioned for “The Secret Garden” and got a part as a ghost. But I always sang. I was singing in church, and in my choir in middle school and high school, and it felt natural to go into drama in high school, because there were musicals. I was pursuing singing and musical theater, and my voice sang more naturally in its upper register in a classical capacity.

Q. So when you went to BU it was more for singing than acting?

A. Yes. I was studying classical voice performance there, but in that program you also have to take acting. In addition to voice lessons, theory, ear training, and music history, you also had to take Shakespeare and movement. So on Fridays, we’d have a class in movement, and we’d be doing things like rolling around on the ground, and on another day we’d have music history, learning about Rachmaninoff. And I thought, “I like the rolling on the ground part better.” I felt that when I moved to New York, this is what I’d be doing.

Q. You did a lot of stage work there, then “Orange Is the New Black” happened, and now you’ve broken into film. How did the part of Vicky come to you?

A. My agents brought me the script, and I loved it, and loved the story. Then I got a phone call from Ewan. He was talking about the script, and I remember his enthusiasm and his passion for the story and for what he was trying to say and communicate. It was infectious and exciting, and who doesn’t want to be in an environment like that? So I said yes.

Q. Introduce Vicky.

A. She’s a woman who works alongside Ewan’s character, Seymour, at his handmade glove factory. We’re watching her life at a time when this country is in a state of change and transition, at a time when people of her make are supposed to be sort of relegated to the back seat of our culture, but is, because of the Levov family, very empowered at her workplace. She is able to stand in her full, authentic self, and she’s a very self-possessed woman, full of opinions, that she’s happy to offer, whether solicited or not [laughs].

Q. You don’t have a lot of scenes, but we get to know your character pretty well. Did you add much to the script?

A. Not really. I just thought she sang so loudly with the little that she had to say. I felt she was a person who was emphatic about whatever it was she wanted to state. She is clear, and she is fearless. And I know women who are like that — certainly in my own home — who have no problem speaking their opinions. I thought this was a wonderful opportunity for a number of voices we haven’t heard from, from that time or since, to give them as loud a voice as I possibly could.

Q. You got to sing last year when you played Glinda on the TV broadcast of “The Wiz Live.” Are there plans to do a concert any time down the road?

A. Oh, I don’t know. I would love to do a concert, but as an artist, I don’t like doing something just for the sake of doing it. I think if it feels motivated by a need to say or do something, that concert will happen.

Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.

Maurice Goulet is new DPW Director

Mo Goulet takes over the Medfield DPW starting August 1.  Mo has been with the Town of Easton’s DPW since 1995, and its Operations Manager since 2006.  For the ten years before the Easton DPW, he ran his own surveying and drafting business in Franklin, and prior to that he worked for fifteen years at Trucchi’s Supermarkets in Taunton.  He obtained a BS from Bridgewater State University in 2003, and is a long term resident of Franklin, where he has had many coaching and volunteer involvements.

A Century of Service to Medfield Ends

Ken Feeney

Ken Feeney already retired after almost 38 years with the DPW, most recently as the Town’s long serving Superintendent.  Since March Ken has been working 25 hours a week to bridge over to the new Director starting.

Robert Kennedy, Sr.

Mr. Kennedy will be retiring from a 62 year career with the Medfield DPW this summer.  He is one of the longest serving municipal employees in all of Norfolk County.  Between these two DPW employees the town is losing almost a century of experience.

Justin Hinkley

Mr. Hinkley was a mechanic for the DPW for 6 years, and left July 1 for a job at Caterpillar and to be closer to his daughter.

Alan Peterson

Alan Peterson is leaving his Facilities Manager position with the schools.  Alan also served as an active member of the Medfield Energy Committee, as well as serving on  his own hometown’s energy committee in Pembroke.

Andrew Seaman

Andrew Seaman is leaving his relatively new position as the town’s Energy Manager, to follow his wife and new daughter, Emily, to new adventures in Philadelphia, where Andrew’s doctor wife has employment with the University of Pennsylvania.

Below is a really nice article about my father that I came across today, which was written more than twenty years after his death by a couple of his colleagues (students I think).  I especially like that it appeared in a section called “Heroes and martyrs,” as he is a hero to me too.