Stage Combat The Podcast
Stage Combat the Podcast is a powerful and eye-opening exploration of the dark side of the entertainment industry which also asks the question: how can we make our workplaces better for everyone? Hosted by attorney/advocate/actor Sean Hayden. In Seasons 1 and 2, Sean Hayden took the listeners into his own harrowing workplace nightmare in the style of a "true crime podcast." Now, Stage Combat the Podcast, in Season 3, is a riveting platform for entertainment workers from everywhere to come together, to share their own stories and to advocate for themselves and for change. Claim Your Story today. Season 4 premiering Spring 2026!
Episodes
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 more of Sean's conversation at STAGE COMBAT AT...
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 support for this Season 3 of the podc...
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 assault.
If you or someone you know ...
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 someone you know h...
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 sexually assault...
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 Abbey Crowle...
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 their insights.
Special...
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, Chryssie Whitehead, ...
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 Special!
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 AT PATREON.
patreo...
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.
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 Suicide and Crisi...
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 Lifeline if you ...
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 Charlie Zuck...
SEASON 3 Episode Five. "Somebody's Going to Get Hurt"
Synopsis: Sean asks whether theatre audiences actually understand the dangers that actors face when it comes to staged combat sequences on stage. And do the actors themselves fully understand the risk they are taking on with every performance.
Guests: Actor/fight instructor McKey Carpenter; Broadway actor Kaylin Seckel; Boston Conservatory at Berklee f...
SEASON 3 Episode Four. "It's All In Your Mind(fulness)"
Synopsis: Almost five years after his collapse from a panic attack on the Goodspeed Opera House stage, Sean looks back at his own search for mindfulness and checks in with a few friends along the way to see how their doing it.
Special thanks to somatic psychologist Dr. Brian Tierney @thesomaticdoctor; actor and yoga instructor MaryJayne Waddell @maryja...
SEASON 3 Episode Three. "Looking for Jeff"
Special Double Length Episode.
Synopsis: Sean undertakes a compassionate investigation into the tragic 2018 suicide death of Chicago The Musical actor Jeff Loeffelholz.
Content warning: strong language; content and conversations about suicide.
Dial or text 988 24/7 to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are in crisis.
Special thank you to David...
SEASON 3 Episode Two. "How Are We All OK With This?" Part 2.
Synopsis: Synopsis: Sean continues to explore the problem with toxic stage managers and investigates whether our jobs can physically make us sick.
Content warning: strong language.
Editing by Alex Griffitt. Mixing and Sound Design by Justin Gerrish.
Written and Directed by Sean Hayden for Haywood Productions, LLC.
Produced by Hay...
SEASON 3 PREMIERE! Episode One. "How Are We All OK With This?" Part 1.
Synopsis: One year after telling his own podcast story of trauma while working at one of the country’s most powerful theatres, Sean explores the stories of listeners who responded to his story. First up: there seems to be a problem with toxic stage managers on Broadway.
Content warning: Contains strong language.
Editing by Alex...
Season 3 Trailer. What happens when actors stop being quiet and start speaking up? Season 3 of Stage Combat the Podcast premiering July 23rd!
In 2023, Sean told his story in Season 1 and 2 (in something that sounded like a true crime podcast.) Now it's time to hear your stories!
Biweekly we are bringing you provocative stories from performing artists everywhere who just want to be heard. Who want to be seen. Who wan...
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