Stage Combat The Podcast
What happens when actors stop being quiet and start speaking up: Season 3 of "Stage Combat The Podcast"! Stage Combat is about fighting back when we are mistreated in our workplaces, no matter what stage we may be on in our lives! Hosted by attorney/advocate/actor Sean Hayden.
In 2019, Sean Hayden thought he had booked the role of his dreams as an actor at the prestigious Goodspeed Opera House in its production of "Billy Elliot, The Musical." As he drove over the Connecticut river and laid his eyes on the fairy tale Opera House for the first time, Sean had no idea what would be looming behind its doors. Or that a mental health crisis caused by his work conditions would cause him to investigate and reexamine his entire life. In the style of a true crime podcast, Sean boldly took us, in Seasons 1 and 2, into the insular world of the theatre industry in which the unspoken rule is, “You are not supposed to speak up. Or there will be consequences.” And he claimed his story.
In response to Sean's story, listeners of the podcast everywhere responded saying they felt seen, heard and validated. And now in Season 3, Sean is telling the stories of those listeners as they claim THEIR stories.
Biweekly episodes.
Stage Combat The Podcast
"Sean Has Questions for the Union"
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 Crowley and Gabriela Geselowitz of Actors' Equity Association. Additional thanks to Eddie Pendergraft, Brass Bass and Bret Shuford.
If you're being bullied, harassed or you're facing discrimination in a union theatrical production, contact the Actors' Equity Lighthouse hotline 1-833-550-0030. You can also report anonymously www.lighthouse-services.com/actorsequity or download the "Anonymous Reporting" App by Lighthouse Services. You can contact Abbey Crowley directly by email at acrowley@actorsequity.org
Coming up in 2 weeks: "Franki Takes A Bow" Did the unsafe practices of a college theatre program contribute to a young artist's tragic mental health spiral?
Hear more of Sean's conversation with Abbey Crowley at STAGE COMBAT AT PATREON.
patreon.com/StageCombatThePodcast
It's the companion to Season 3.
And experience at Patreon our all-new chat podcast series: JUST ACTING and THE MENTAL HEALTH POD.
Hosted by Sean Hayden
Editing by Alex Griffitt. Mixing and Sound Design by Justin Gerrish.
Written and Directed by Sean Hayden for Haywood Productions, LLC.
Produced by Haywood Productions, LLC.
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Sean Hayden is an attorney/actor/advocate and is the CEO of Haywood Productions, LLC. As a professional actor, Sean has appeared in Broadway national tours and in plays and musicals in theaters across the country. He's also the co-host of the acting podcast "Just Acting" with Boston Conservatory Professor Christopher Webb. As a mental health advocate, Sean provides thought leadership on how employers can better support the mental health of their employees and how theatre programs can support their students.
