Alan Seales is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Broadway Podcast Network, a Broadway producer, and a professional podcast host. He chatted about being a part of the digital age.
Seales served as the original Talks at Google Global Lead, where he has had the opportunity to pick the brains of some of our generation’s biggest thought leaders including the late Bob Saget, Matthew McConaughey, Ariana Huffington, and almost every musical cast on Broadway from 2014 to 2020.
He hosts a solo podcast called The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales, co-hosts Was It Chance?, and helps actively produce over 50 more active podcasts both inside and outside of the Broadway Podcast Network.
Inspiration to start the Broadway Podcast Network
On his inspiration to start the Broadway Podcast Network, he said, “Six years ago, I was looking for podcast content for me to listen to, and I couldn’t find anything that was current or actively releasing. That lead me to start my own podcast, ‘The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales’.”
“Once I started that, I immediately started discovering 20 other active podcasts, and then it occurred to me that there was a discoverability problem,” he noted.
“I was still at Google at the time, where I was the lead of ‘Talks at Google.’ That was where I met Dori Berinstein, the lead producer of ‘The Prom,’ and she agreed to be a guest on my podcast,” he said.
“Dori loves the podcast and she is a very independent entrepreneur and business person, and we started working together right away,” he added.
Future plans
On his future plans, he revealed, “We just launched the first podcast in partnership with Disney Theatrical Group. It’s their first official podcast that we produced for them, and it’s all about the 10 years of ‘Aladdin’ on Broadway. Today, we dropped our second episode.”
“I would like to be the service where everyone comes to produce these docuseries podcasts or companion podcasts,” he admitted. “My goal would be for every Broadway show to start their podcast through us. I want us to be the one stop shop online for everything Broadway and Broadway adjacent.”
“We also have educational podcasts, where I want to partner with universities,” he added.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, Seales said, “It is totally normal, that’s the world I live in. I was born in the analog era but I didn’t go digital until my late teens, so I’ve seen both sides of this. I love integrating new technology and augmenting reality with helpful tech.”
“So, for me, I don’t know how not to exist in the digital age because it’s such a part of my ethos,” he noted.
“I wake up and I have technology around me, which helps me with my schedule and it helps me stay organized. I have a calling and a need to bring Broadway forward and embrace new technology,” he added.
Dream interviews to someday do
As part of his dream interview subjects, he shared that he would love to someday interview the “SmartLess guys” Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, all of which run the No. 1 comedy podcast “SmartLess.” “Will Arnett’s sense of humor is my sense of humor… so I would love to have all three of them together,” he said.
“They are a dream of mine. I would love to talk to other podcasters such as Dax Shepard. I like people that don’t take themselves too seriously such as Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.”
“In the Broadway world, I would love to sit down with Audra McDonald, Sarah Hyland, and I would love to go through all of The Avengers since most of them have humble beginnings in professional theatre,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he responded, “Who Am I? I won’t know till I die… or ‘I’m 43, and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up’.”
Advice for young and aspiring Broadway podcasters
For young and emerging Broadway podcasters, he said, “Find a topic that you love because podcasting is work. You have to edit and make it good, and audio quality has to be good. Get a decent microphone in well-treated room (with no echo), and get your audio quality down.”
“Find a topic that you love and you have to talk about because that is going to keep you going. You need to release consistently because you are not going to build an audience otherwise, and you also need to integrate social media,” he elaborated.
“Also, you need to be a good talker and a good listener because listening is super important in any conversation because it’s a two-way thing,” he added.
Visiting Greece this summer
Seales had the good fortune to visit Greece this summer, and he enjoyed it there. “I loved Greece, he said. “I would love to move to Mykonos. It was hot while we were there but that is understandable. I liked it a lot; it was fun. I definitely want to go back there.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Seales said, “Just being truly happy. I’ve had high-paying jobs that didn’t bring me satisfaction and I’ve had low-paying jobs that I didn’t want to quit because I loved them so much.”
“At the end of the day, if you are happy, feel accomplished, and find worth in what you are doing, then that’s success to me. Also, feeling like I’ve made a difference,” he concluded.
To learn more about the Broadway Podcast Network, follow the podcast on Instagram.
For more information on Alan Seales, follow him on Instagram and on The Theatre Podcast Instagram.
