Stage Combat The Podcast

Season 4, Season Finale Ep 10.   Synopsis:  Sean is getting to the bottom of why it seems like Broadway audiences are out of control with some help from Matt Koplik, host of the podcast Broadway Breakdown. Strong language. Be sure to listen to Matt on his amazing podcast Broadway Breakdown. A special thank you to the many artists and guests who made Season 4 our best ever: Aaron Lazar, Matt Koplik...

Season 4, Episode 9. THIS IS PART 2 OF A TWO-PART EPISODE. LISTEN TO EPISODE 8 FIRST: "The Lookingglass Story: How We Got Here" Synopsis: Two months, the Tony award winning Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago issued a cease-and-desist letter in response to our story about a young actor named Ayana who says she was left disabled performing a circus act in Lookingglass' production of Circ...

Season 4, Episode 8. Synopsis: Two months, the Tony award winning Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago issued a cease-and-desist letter in response to our story about a young actor named Ayana who says she was left disabled performing a circus act in Lookingglass' production of Circus Quixote.  It's a story that has provoked anger and frustration in the Chicago theatre community.  Sean's...

Season 4, Episode 7. Synopsis: One of our most provocative stories last season was the story of Court Watson, a designer who alleges he was assaulted as a college student at The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island by Tony award winning costume designer William Ivy Long. With Long secretly working on The Queen of Versailles on Broadway this past season, Sean is reconnecting with Court to hear how he feel...

Season 4, Episode 6. Synopsis: Sean’s talking about the invisible disability of hearing loss in the theatre industry with Dallas actor Marianne Galloway, an actor with hearing loss.  Plus Sean's getting personal about his own invisible disability for the first time with the listeners.  Special thank you to the amazing Marianne Galloway for sharing her story.  Support this podcast and listen t...

Season 4, Episode 5.  Synopsis:  Sean and Chris Webb, Professor at Boston Conservatory, discuss the war on artists that's been unleased since the second Trump administration and how they have been both been coping with it. Contains strong language. Special thanks to Christopher Webb. Support this podcast and listen to bonus content and insider information at STAGE COMBAT AT PATREON  patreon.c...

Season 4, Episode 4.  Five years ago, The Hollywood Reporter published shocking bullying allegations about mega film and Broadway producer Scott Rudin, causing him to be cancelled.  Today Rudin is BACK on Broadway and poised to sweep this year's Tony awards with his productions of Death of A Salesman starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf and Little Bear Ridge Road, also starring Metcalf.  S...

Season 4, Episode 3.  With Heated Rivalry , the steamy Canadian TV show about gay hockey players, still on everyone's minds, Sean and intimacy director Nicole Perry are answering your questions about how actors perform sex scenes on stage and in tv and film. Contains adult content. Nicole Perry, MFA, CLMA, CID/C is an award-winning movement professional, working as an intimacy director, an in...

Season 4, Episode 2. Synopsis:  Now that the construction dust has settled, can we learn anything from Broadway’s 23M flop, The Queen of Versailles starring Kristen Chenoweth?  Sean and Matt Koplik, host of Broadway Breakdown , have thoughts about the controversies and the social phenomenon surrounding The Queen of Versailles. Contains strong language. Special thanks to Matt Koplik.  Be sure to li...

Season 4, SEASON PREMIERE.  Synopsis:  Sean talks with Broadway star Andrew Lazar, a veteran of 11 Broadway shows, about his journey of “healing with ALS” and thriving through adversity. Special thanks to Aaron Lazar and The Skin Deep card game.  Contains strong language.  Support this podcast and listen to bonus content and insider information at STAGE COMBAT AT PATREON  patreon.com/StageCombatTh...

SEASON 3 BONUS: While we're preparing the premiere of Season 4 of Stage Combat the Podcast, Sean's looking back on 5 Eye Opening Moments from Season 3.    Listen and let us know what was our most impactful moment of the podcast for you! This episode is dedicated in loving memory of actor Bret Shuford.  Special thanks to McKey Carpenter, Jessica Webb, Bobby Steggert and "Laura"...

SEASON 3 BONUS: Sean's back with an all-new Thanksgiving Catch Up Bonus Episode!  We're catching you up on all things Stage Combat the Podcast (BIG news about Season 4?). PLUS Sean's got some choice words about Actors' Equity Association and what it did (or didn't do) with the recently ratified Broadway contract which averted a strike!  And he's not holding back! Hear...

SEASON 3 Season Finale! Episode Eighteen. "Walking Away From Broadway" Synopsis:   At the end of a season of incredible stories, Sean looks to the future and finds inspiration chatting with Bobby Steggert:  an actor who experienced a life-changing epiphany while working on a Broadway stage. Content warning: Strong language. Thank you to Bobby Steggert.   And thank you to YOU for your sup...

SEASON 3 Episode Seventeen. "The Court Watson Story Part Two" (Be sure to Listen to Ep 16 First: The Court Watson Story Part One") Synopsis:   Court Watson sets out to tell his story to the media and to hold his former employer accountable for what happened to him on Roanoke Island. Thank you to Court Watson.  Content warning: Content dealing with sexual harassment and sexual assaul...

SEASON 3 Episode Sixteen. "The Court Watson Story Part One" Synopsis:   Sean investigates what happened between Tony award-winning Broadway costume designer, William Ivey Long, and college student, Court Watson, on Roanoke Island some twenty years ago.  Thank you to Court Watson and Adam Stocker.  Content warning: Content dealing with sexual harassment and sexual assault.  If you or some...

SEASON 3 Episode Fifteen. "Franki Take A Bow" Synopsis:   Sean investigates whether the unsafe practices of a college theatre program contributed to a young woman's tragic mental health spiral. Special Guests: Franki Mastrone, Jessica Webb, Professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.  Content warning: Content dealing with sexual assault.  If you or someone you know has been sexuall...

SEASON 3 Episode Fourteen. "Sean Has Questions For The Union." Synopsis:   After hearing the frustrations of listeners about the lack of action by the actors' union in many of the season's workplace stories, Sean goes looking for answers from the union. Special Guest: Abbey Crowley, Business Representative for the Division for Harassment and Discrimination. Special thank you to...

SEASON 3 Episode Thirteen. "Loving Someone Traumatized By The Industry" Synopsis:   Sean's investigating the mental health ripple effect that occurs when an employee is traumatized by an employer.  Actor Eddie Pendergraft (the actor from Wicked in Ep 10 "Another Wicked Story"), Eddie’s husband Tony and clinical psychologist Dr. Michelle Sherman are all on board to share th...

SEASON 3 Episode Twelve. "The 2nd Annual Stage Combat Holiday Special!" Synopsis:  Sean's reuniting with some of our guests from Season 3 for the holidays to ask probing questions such as "Would you choose The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree or the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree?" Special thank you to Bret Shuford, Brad Bass, Pamela Bob, McKey Carpenter, Kaylin Seckel, Chr...

SEASON 3 Episode Eleven. "Revealing Your Darkest Secret: ABC News' Matt Gutman" Synopsis:  Thinking about the power of disclosing our secrets causes Sean to revisit his 2023 interview with ABC News' Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman.  Special thank you to Matt Gutman, LaQuet Sharnell Pringle and Amelia Morse. Coming up in 2 weeks: It's the Stage Combat Holiday Speci...

SEASON 3 Episode Ten. "Another Wicked Story: Eddie" Synopsis:   Another actor from Wicked on Broadway comes forward to tell Sean his story about the toxic work environment he experienced there and how it traumatized him for years. Special thank you to Eddie Pendergraft. Hear Wicked actor Brad Bass' account of what he called "witch hunts" backstage at Wicked at STAGE COMBAT...

SEASON 3 Episode Nine. "The 'F' Word" Synopsis:   Sean investigates whether there's a problem with using the "family" word in our workplaces. Special thank you to Bret Shuford, Michael McGurk, Nicole Perry, CorBen Williams, Jeanine Bruen, Michael Passaro, Kirsti Carnahan, Greg Roderick, Juliet Lambert Pratt, Mia Scarpa and Frank Mastrone.  Stage Combat The Podcas...

SEASON 3 Episode Eight. "Putting It Out There: Your Mental Health Story On the Stage" Synopsis:   Sean meets two very different performers who claimed their mental health stories by creating their own one-person solo shows: Legendary drag queen Varla Jean Merman aka Jeff Roberson and Broadway actor Chryssie Whitehead.  Content warning:  Content about suicide. Dial or text 988 24/7 to the...

SEASON 3 Episode Seven. "You're Under Investigation: Laura' Story" Synopsis:   After hearing Sean's story about the botched workplace investigation at the Goodspeed Opera House, listener Laura shares her own bonkers workplace investigation story that ended with devastating consequences. Content warning: Content about suicide. Dial or text 988 24/7 to the Suicide and Crisis...

SEASON 3 Episode Six. "Charlie At the Crossroads" Synopsis: Sean meets Charlie, a 23-year-old Boston theatre program student.  Two months before his graduation, Charlie has an unfiltered conversation with Sean about his hopes, his dreams, his frustrations and how Stage Combat the Podcast has affected him personally as he sits at the crossroads of his life.   Strong language. Thank you to...