Rick Sordelet, Class of '82, recently received a JEFF Award for Fight/Movement Direction for his work with a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

The JEFF Awards have been presented to outstanding Chicago theater artists since their establishment in 1968. See the full list of this year's recipients. Rick is listed fourth from the bottom of the page.

Rick began his theater career at UW-Superior, where he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree. Over the years he specialized in training and directing actors to fight on stage without hurting themselves or each other.

Today he is recognized as one of theater's top fight directors, with more than 50 Broadway productions to his credit. He also has worked on productins for the Metropolitan Opera in New York and, recently, his 80th production of "Romeo and Juliet" for Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

His film credits include "The Game Plan," starring Dwayne Johnson, and "Hamlet," starring Campbell Scott and Blair Brown. He was chief stunt coordinator for television's "Guiding Light" for 12 years and staged the fights for "First Jedi," a CD-rom for George Lucas.

Rick teaches at The New School for Drama in New York City, the Yale School of Drama and The Neighborhood Playhouse.