Fight workshop blends Superior, Duluth theater communities
Oct. 5—DULUTH — A problem-solving University of Wisconsin-Superior alum connected the university theater department with the Duluth Playhouse Monday, Oct. 2.
Rick Sordelet,
one of the top fight directors in the country,
led a fight workshop for professional actors from the playhouse and students involved in the UWS theater program. The class slowly mixed, relaxed and connected. Within an hour and a half, they were throwing a series of punches back and forth, complete with sound effects.
Sordelet has 72 Broadway shows and hundreds of off-Broadway and regional theater productions to his credit. He's worked on television shows, movies and around the world. The renowned fight director also has Superior ties.
"He was so enthusiastic about coming out and sort of helping me to kick off this new era of theater here at UWS. He graduated with his BFA from here a long time ago, and he's never forgotten what Superior has done for him and for his career and to get him where he is now. And so this is sort of his way of giving back and paying it forward which is, I mean, just tremendous," said Sean Naughton, assistant professor of theater at the college.
In addition to teaching the workshop, Sordelet spent the week working with the "She Kills Monsters" cast. He visited UWS classes to share his knowledge with students, as well.
Naughton joined the UWS communicating arts department about a month ago and will open his UWS career with a production of "She Kills Monsters" in November. The play deals with universal themes that everyone grapples with daily — loss, grief, acceptance, love and finding the courage to be themselves.
"Coming to a smaller school like UWS has been a dream come true, because I have a chance here to set a tone of inclusiveness and student-centered collaboration in the theater program," he said.
Theater, he said, is for everybody and productions can serve as a front door to the university for the community.
The Duluth Playhouse provided the space for the fight workshop.
"The playhouse actors are so excited they get this fantastic opportunity. We thank Sean Naughton and everyone at UWS who contributed to bringing Rick Sordelet back to town," said Phillip Fazio, artistic director for the playhouse.
As they continue to prioritize physical and mental safety on productions, he said, the workshop provided actors with training to reinforce stage combat on upcoming productions of "Misery," "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Peter and the Starcatcher."
"I hope the actors walk away with a better understanding of safe stage combat and feel even more prepared to tackle a moment of fight choreography in their next role," Fazio said.
Sordelet walked the combined group of actors through various exercises, building expectations into actions into connections.
Every production is a new challenge for Sordelet. The fight director has worked on 100 different productions of "Romeo and Juliet," for instance, and no two are the same.
"I love it. It's the same play, yet it typifies what we love most about doing this kind of work and that is that no casts are the same, no two director's visions are the same, no two sets are the same," Sordelet said. "One of the things that I love about the work I do is it's problem solving. So you're always looking for ways to unlock the combination."
He mixes together the expectations of the playwright, producer, director and actors to create something new.
"And so part of my job is to get this healthy convergence of everybody's expectations so that safety is number one and storytelling is number two," Sordelet said. "It's kind of like concrete, you've got to get a good strong mix of all the ingredients together. Once it's mixed, then you get a solid foundation."
Naughton said he hopes the combined class will set a foundation for future partnerships and continued connection between the university and the playhouse.
"I really think it's a great opportunity to strengthen the theater and arts communities across the Twin Ports area," he said.
