Thursday, February 6, 2025

Theater Dads Make a Splash with “Stage Door Podcast”

Kyle Omlor, Ron Matanick and Thom Ovacek, three theater dads, began a podcast called “Stage Door,” targeted at anybody and everybody in the Northwest Ohio theater scene.

Despite sounding like the plot of a sitcom, the real story is more entertaining. They’re not “stage moms” a la “Dance Moms,” they’re just dads from northwest Ohio who’ve embraced their inner love for theater and are looking to spread the gospel about anything related to the topic. At least that’s how they describe their approach to the popular podcast.  

Three Average Guys Walk Into A Theater…

 “Our whole schtick is that we are these very average dudes who do this podcast about theater, and, in reality, there should be no reason why we are these giant musical theater fans because we grew up in rural Ohio in the 80s and 90s when everything was very sports focused,” Omlor relates. “Ron and I would go for walks at work and talk about our kids, and it just happened that both our sons participated in theater. We inevitably wound up talking about theater all the time. Eventually we just determined, ‘We should do a podcast about theater.’” 

There’s A Lot of Theater in Toledo

“Now there is so much more theater in Toledo than in the 80s and 90s when I was growing up in Lakota,” Omlor, whose son is now enrolled in NYU’s musical theater program, said. 

The area is home to a dozen or more community theater organizations in addition to the Toledo School for the Arts, plus college programs which means that there is plenty of local content for their podcast.  Omlor started out only knowing the shows his kids were in, but soon discovered that there was a bigger world of theater out there to explore. The podcast is, in part, a journey into discovering that larger world of theater, on a local level. 

“I thought, there’s got to be a lot of other people out there like us who know some musicals and like what they’ve experienced so far and want to know more, so let’s make a podcast that’s relatable to the everyday guy or girl who doesn’t know anything about musicals or the career path for any number of theater jobs — performing and beyond,” Omlor said. “That’s how we approach every single one of these podcast episodes.”

Theater Podcasting for Dummies 

Omlor describes himself as “blissfully dumb” about the ins and outs of musical theater and theater in general. “I find so much about theater fascinating, so when a guest on the show talks about what they do, I am genuinely intrigued,” Omlor said. “There are so many aspects to theater and putting on a show is complex. Most podcasts have a highbrow approach where the interviewer is an expert and assumes the audience is too. We aren’t afraid to say we’re dumb – explain it to us like we’re dumb – and maybe some listeners out there will say ‘Thank god he asked so I don’t have to!’” 

Exploring new territory with their listeners keeps the podcast genuine and fun. Omlor admits that in one episode, much to the surprise of his guest, he didn’t know that the musical “Bright Star” was written by Steve Martin, which made his “HOLY COW, that’s so cool” reaction 100% authentic. 

When asked how he approaches interviews, Omlor said he favors a relaxed atmosphere and going with the flow over creating a list of questions, or as he likes to say –  favoring “conversation over interrogation.” 

Two Years, 130 Episodes and Counting

An art director at WTOL Channel 11, Omlor started out wanting to be a teacher and became interested in graphic design in college. His sense of adventure paid off when taking the leap to make the first episodes of the podcast. He recalls that they didn’t even have microphones that matched.  They’re a long way from mismatched mics now, as the month of July marked their 130th episode, with new ones dropping every Friday.  “We call our podcast ‘Stagedoor’ because we are true fans, and now we are in our second year,” Omlor explains. 

Stage Door Podcast can be found on Apple, Spotify, Facebook and Instagram. For more information, check out their Instagram.

Kyle Omlor, Ron Matanick and Thom Ovacek, three theater dads, began a podcast called “Stage Door,” targeted at anybody and everybody in the Northwest Ohio theater scene.

Despite sounding like the plot of a sitcom, the real story is more entertaining. They’re not “stage moms” a la “Dance Moms,” they’re just dads from northwest Ohio who’ve embraced their inner love for theater and are looking to spread the gospel about anything related to the topic. At least that’s how they describe their approach to the popular podcast.  

Three Average Guys Walk Into A Theater…

 “Our whole schtick is that we are these very average dudes who do this podcast about theater, and, in reality, there should be no reason why we are these giant musical theater fans because we grew up in rural Ohio in the 80s and 90s when everything was very sports focused,” Omlor relates. “Ron and I would go for walks at work and talk about our kids, and it just happened that both our sons participated in theater. We inevitably wound up talking about theater all the time. Eventually we just determined, ‘We should do a podcast about theater.’” 

There’s A Lot of Theater in Toledo

“Now there is so much more theater in Toledo than in the 80s and 90s when I was growing up in Lakota,” Omlor, whose son is now enrolled in NYU’s musical theater program, said. 

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The area is home to a dozen or more community theater organizations in addition to the Toledo School for the Arts, plus college programs which means that there is plenty of local content for their podcast.  Omlor started out only knowing the shows his kids were in, but soon discovered that there was a bigger world of theater out there to explore. The podcast is, in part, a journey into discovering that larger world of theater, on a local level. 

“I thought, there’s got to be a lot of other people out there like us who know some musicals and like what they’ve experienced so far and want to know more, so let’s make a podcast that’s relatable to the everyday guy or girl who doesn’t know anything about musicals or the career path for any number of theater jobs — performing and beyond,” Omlor said. “That’s how we approach every single one of these podcast episodes.”

Theater Podcasting for Dummies 

Omlor describes himself as “blissfully dumb” about the ins and outs of musical theater and theater in general. “I find so much about theater fascinating, so when a guest on the show talks about what they do, I am genuinely intrigued,” Omlor said. “There are so many aspects to theater and putting on a show is complex. Most podcasts have a highbrow approach where the interviewer is an expert and assumes the audience is too. We aren’t afraid to say we’re dumb – explain it to us like we’re dumb – and maybe some listeners out there will say ‘Thank god he asked so I don’t have to!’” 

Exploring new territory with their listeners keeps the podcast genuine and fun. Omlor admits that in one episode, much to the surprise of his guest, he didn’t know that the musical “Bright Star” was written by Steve Martin, which made his “HOLY COW, that’s so cool” reaction 100% authentic. 

When asked how he approaches interviews, Omlor said he favors a relaxed atmosphere and going with the flow over creating a list of questions, or as he likes to say –  favoring “conversation over interrogation.” 

Two Years, 130 Episodes and Counting

An art director at WTOL Channel 11, Omlor started out wanting to be a teacher and became interested in graphic design in college. His sense of adventure paid off when taking the leap to make the first episodes of the podcast. He recalls that they didn’t even have microphones that matched.  They’re a long way from mismatched mics now, as the month of July marked their 130th episode, with new ones dropping every Friday.  “We call our podcast ‘Stagedoor’ because we are true fans, and now we are in our second year,” Omlor explains. 

Stage Door Podcast can be found on Apple, Spotify, Facebook and Instagram. For more information, check out their Instagram.

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