Learn the Fine Art of Stage Fighting

Sword fights, epic battles, punching, kicking, grappling, hair pulling, slamming into walls — all things Rick Sordelet, one of the leading fight directors in the nation, is all too familiar with.

Sordelet has collaborated with Bay Street Theater on numerous occasions, most recently for the mainstage productions of “Ragtime” and “Anna in the Tropics” in the summer of 2022, and the 2021 Literature Live! production of “Macbeth.” Now, for those who would like to learn how it’s done, Sordelet will lead a class on stunt work and fight direction at Bay Street Theater on Saturday, February 25, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Sordelet is a fight director and co-creator of Sordelet Inc., a combat company bringing over 30 years of action movement experience to the New York City-based theater community and internationally. Sordelet’s son, Christian, is also a partner in Sordelet Inc.

Sordelet’s past work on Broadway productions include “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Waiting for Godot/No Man’s Land,” “Tarzan” and “The Little Mermaid,” to name a few. Credits also include over 60 first-class productions on five continents in hundreds of cities around the world including “Ben Hur Live” at the O2 Arena in London and the European tour. He also has hundreds of credits for Off-Broadway and Regional Theater productions.

During Sordelet’s one-day workshop at Bay Street, participants will learn the basics of hand-to-hand combat, stage a scene utilizing the fighting techniques they have learned and then film it. Sordelet will also leave time for a Q&A where participants will have an opportunity to pick his brain and learn the top 10 things actors encounter in any stage combat scenario.

Sordelet grew up in northern Minnesota and came east for graduate school at Rutgers University where he studied as an actor and carries an MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts.

After college, one of his first jobs was working as a stunt coordinator on Broadway in 1993 for “Beauty and the Beast.”

“That’s when I decided I’d be a professional fight director,” Sordelet explained in a recent phone interview. He has done over 70 shows on Broadway since then.

“Ben Hur Live” was a European tour that had a Roman fight scene. Sordelet worked with over 400 actors, several four-horse teams, and even chariots.

“We had a chariot race. That was a blast,” Sordelet recalled. “Ben Hur Live” was a large-scale arena show with gladiator battles, and battles involving 50-foot ship structures. One scene has 50 Romans fighting 50 pirates. Sordelet explained that the actors use real weapons that have been theatricalized and are safe for the stage.

Sordelet recalled that when he first became involved in the stunt industry, there were very few fight directors.

“The trade was young. There were not a lot of people doing what I did,” he said. As the industry changed, there was a need for fight direction to change. “I was one of the young guys coming up to evolve with the industry,” Sordelet said. “Now, it’s very exciting to watch these young directors from all walks of life. It is exciting to watch how the industry is moving up. I am eager to see young people succeed and am more than happy to help in any way I can.”

The three-hour class at Bay Street will concentrate on fighting for film, stage and television. The students will create an action video which is part of the evolving industry. Casting directors are looking for people who can move and do stunts. But because people are not going into studios to audition in person the same way they used to, producers and casting directors look for videos to gauge an actor’s movement skills.

“They’re going to learn the craft and how to elevate the craft into a skill that will help them get work with casting agents,” Sordelet said. Students will learn punching, kicking, grappling, hair pulling and slamming into walls, to name a few. In addition, Sordelet will touch upon edged weapons, knives and swords.

Sordelet said he has never seen stunt work being done better than it is now, including internationally, adding that a Bollywood version of “Braveheart” is one of his favorite recent works.

One of the best sword fights for a film, Sordelet said, is “Roy Rob” starring Tim Roth and Liam Neeson.

“That sword fight was such a good example of character-driven work,” he explained. “The Rob Roy fight captures the spirit of each man and tells a story within the sword fight.”

Another favorite, “The Princess Bride,” Sordelet noted, had skilled swordsmanship and fight scenes.

Sordelet was also one of the stunt coordinators who worked on a Star Wars video game titled “The Last Jedi.”

“It was fun to work with lightsabers,” he said, adding that the lightsaber is such an interesting weapon because no one knew what the rules were. He and his team treated the lightsaber like a Japanese Katana.

“In the 1990s when they were working with green screen and computer dynamics, it was amazing to see how they put these scenes together,” he said of creating the video game which was available on PC at the time. “For us, we had to use our imagination to be in the world that was Star Wars. I admire any actor that works with green screen. They so often are put into an environment where it is only in their imagination. The actors are working on what they think it looks like.”

These days, Sordelet mostly works in New York. He and his son Christian have started their own stage combat company, Sordelet Inc. Recently, Sordelet and his son were the stunt coordinators for “Kevin Can Wait,” a sitcom starring Kevin James on CBS. Also, this past year, the team worked on “One True Loves,” based on a novel. Last spring, the team put together stunt work for a horror movie called “Blue Light,” which is currently in post-production.

Sordelet Inc. has provided stunt coordinators for television, feature films and national stage tours running across the United States and North America. Sordelet has been teaching stage combat for Yale School of Drama for 20 years and Christian Sordelet teaches stage combat at CUNY Harlem. The Sordelets have done hundreds of workshops, resident teachings and also been instructors at New York University, Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, Rutgers University and The New School.

“Stage Combat With Rick Sordelet” is for adults and teens ages 16 and up and is Saturday, February 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. The cost is $99 and all experience levels are invited to participate. Register at baystreet.org. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.