NYC Theatre
PRESS
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
Broadway; Tour; Off-Broadway
Boston Globe - Don Aucoin
Acheson Walsh Studios has devised some wild puppet monsters, and the battle scenes are ably staged (fight direction is by Rod Kinter)
Florida Theatre OnStage - Bill Hirschman
Throughout the show, the fight scenes were genuinely believable, which is a testament to fight arranger Rod Kinter’s expertise.
EdgeMEDIANetwork - Robert Nesti
"The Lightning Thief" draws upon low-tech theatrical devices in telling the story — life-size puppets, well-staged fight sequences (by Rod Kinter) and smart use of LED lighting are used to great effect in creating the story's fantastical world.
Encore Michigan - Julie Linderleaf
The fight choreography by Rod Kinter is very well done. Getting attacked by monsters while on a quest leads to a lot of choreographed fight scenes.
Pearl Theatre
Henry IV Part 1
Epoch Times - Geoff Gregory
Work by fight director Rod Kinter and choreographer Birgitta Victorson are excellent, with the battle sequences feeling fresh and not at all stage bound. Particularly good are the combat scenes between Hotspur and the Prince and between the King and Douglas.
STAGE AND CINEMA - Sarah Taylor Ellis
By time for battle, the sword fights (staged by Rod Kinter) are dynamic and action-packed, and a noticeable chill passes through the audience when the maturing Prince Hal confronts the atrocities of war and the reality of death.
Lights and Sound America --David Barbour
…and excitingly staged battlefield scenes, full of suspenseful swordplay, which are paced by the excellent work of fight director Rod Kinter
Theatermania - Zachary Stewart
….Rod Kinter's fights are particularly thrilling…
The Edge – New York - Jonathan Leaf
…plus excitement in the superb fight sequences choreographed by Rod Kinter. –
NYC Stage Review - Beatrice Williams-Rude
Special attention is due Rod Kinter, the fight director. The battle scenes with sword-play aplenty, were terrifyingly real
NY Theatre-Wire - Glenn Loney
The Battle Scenes & the Mano a Mano Combat of Hotspur & Prince Hal were wonderfully choreographed by Rod Kinter.
Moon for the Misbegotten
The Huffington post – Bess Rowen
There are some comic moments, and even some fight scenes (well choreographed by Rod Kinter)
The Sneeze
NYTHEATRE.com – David Fuller
Kudos also must go to Rod Kinter, whose fight direction is so good all the action seems effortlessly real
The Playboy of the Western World
Epoch Times - Judd Hollander
Also deserving of mention is the nice work by fight director Rod Kinter
NYTHEATRE.com – David Gordon
It starts off slow, gradually picking up speed until a breathless final act, which showcases a nifty little fight scene (choreographed by Rod Kinter)
Twelfth Night
Curtain-Up - Gregory A. Wilson
The action moves along at a good pace, and the staging is always interesting and occasionally excellent (the famous scenes of Malvolio's discovery of the letter and the "fight" between the disguised Viola and Sir Andrew Aguecheek are particularly well executed).
The Rivals
Epoch Times - Judd Hollander
Good work also by fight director Rod Kinter and costume designer Sam Flemming.
Minetta Lane Theater
Red Roses, Green Gold
TheatreScene.net - Darryl Reilly
Fight director Rod Kinter injects energy with his precise barroom clashes.
Mint Theater
Days to Come
OffOffOnline.com - Charles Wright
A brutal fight, choreographed by Rod Kinter, is as believable as any on-stage violence in recent memory.
Rick on Theater Blog
I will compliment fight director Rod Kinter... for one of the best bits of stage violence I’ve ever seen—the knifing of Mossie... it’s executed excellently. Whatever Kinter devised, actors Zes (who threw) and Murphy (who “caught”) performed it perfectly.
East 13th Street Playhouse
Fatal Attraction; A Greek Tragedy
The New York Times - Andrea Stevens
….Cory Feldman and Ms. McNair, of the glittering eyes, engage in some impressive "Kill Bill" maneuvers, complete with somersaults for Ms. McNair, under the fight direction of Rod Kinter.
Theatermania - Barbara & Scott Siegel
……One of the funniest sequences in the show is the climax, an extended comic fight scene; give credit here to fight director Rod Kinter
Theatermania - Adam Klasfeld
………… Haskell works magic as the play's director……….. the devices that he uses to recreate the movie's infamous "bunny" scenes shouldn't be missed. Ditto the bathtub finale, which Haskell ominously foreshadows before the play has even begun. (Fight choreographer Rod Kinter probably deserves much of the credit for the effectiveness of these sequences.)
BackStage - Victor Gluck
…….Rod Kinter’s Fight Choreography is one of the plays strong points
Other NYC Theatre
The Jaded Assassin - The Ohio Theatre
The New York Times - Anita Gates
The first decapitation gets a laugh. So do the cast’s open mouths, frozen as if they were on mannequins painted while speaking about something upsetting. The shadow puppets are hits. But “The Jaded Assassin,” Michael Voyer’s innovative martial-arts fantasy, is all about the battles. It’s not unusual to go to the theater these days and see a fight choreographer listed in the program. It is strange, however, to see a show that consists of almost nothing but that person’s work. In the case of “The Jaded Assassin,” the final presentation in the Ice Factory 2006 festival, the fight choreography is by Rod Kinter. And it is entirely appropriate that in the program his name comes right after that of the director …….There is a plot to go with the kicks, jumps, falls and rolls…. But the pleasure of the show is the fighting.
….. Take that, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”!
NYTHEATRE.com - Michael Criscuolo
Then, there are the fights, which are dazzling. Rod Kinter's fight choreography includes hand-to-hand combat, swords, staffs, nunchucks, you name it. There's a fun no-holds-barred spirit to his work that carries over to the cast, who face off together with gleeful conviction.
NYTHEATRE.com - Martin Denton
Voyer's text functions mainly as the frame for the play's numerous fight sequences, which are astonishingly diverse and beautifully executed.
Performing Arts Insider / Lively Arts.com - Richard Shepard
I have never seen stage choreography as complex prolonged into such extended sequences where any wrong move, any miss in the timing, could injure a performer. There are no glitches in this incredible show. Conceived and brilliantly directed by Timothy Haskell, with tongue-in-cheek script by Michael Voyer and amazing fight choreography by Rod Kinter
Uncoolkids.com - Anthony Venditto
…….The staging of the battles was nothing short of artistic genius and truly stretched the boundaries of stage combat to a level I never imagined possible.
Last Life – Fight Fest 2009 – Ohio Theatre 2010
THE HAPPIEST MEDIUM - Karen Tortora-Lee
Each fight in Last Life is approached … meaning it does not happen organically in the middle of a sentence, but rather it is stepped into by the characters who stand facing each other in grim determination before leaping into exciting, balletic and heart-stoppingly choreographed fights. They slap, tug, pull, drag, trip each other, spin, lunge forward, swing wide, grunt and sweat. They use fists, legs, ropes and – in one fearsome scene knives – From where I was sitting, these were REAL KNIVES. Wieled by women. I was never so proud of my gender, and so pleased with a playwright and a director. Thanks Eric and Timothy … and thanks fight director Rod Kinter – for putting the shiny sharp objects into the hands of women. And the rope too, for that matter.knives…………. You’ll never see theatre combat the same again.
INDIGEST MAGIZINE - Rachel Cole
Of course, as Last Life is essentially a vehicle for epic displays of stage combat, the fight scenes, directed by Rod Kinter, are truly at the heart of this spectacle. His choreography is elegantly brutal, a dance like cutting open a rib cage and eating the still pulsing heart inside. Set to a techno soundtrack in the tradition of Kill Bill, each fight is filled with humor and story, a crude language that speaks of an elevated attention to the animal-like ferocity inside us all. I am, admittedly, not a fight aficionado, but the precision of performances and the exhaustingly effortless physical commitment from the actors elevated violence out of the messy bruhaha into an art that can stand on its own.
NYTHEATRE.com - Pete Boisvery
Rod Kinter’s brutal though realistic fight choreography shines throughout the evening, and the ensemble executes the combat sequences with technical aplomb.”
j.b. spins – J.B.
Last boasts some of strongest, most convincing fight sequences of the festival. Choreographed by Rod Kinter, resident fight director of the New York City Opera and the Pearl Theatre Company, they have a gritty realism distinct from the more outrageous cartoon mayhem of other Fight Fest shows.
Kung Fu Magazine - Douglas Ferguson
Now to the final and most important Part (this is kungfumagazine.com, after all): the fights. Here is where the play shines. The fight director and choreographer Rod Kinter (long-time in-house fight director for the New York City opera) went against the grain. Instead of using clean crisp choreography as you would expect from a play (with big exaggerated movement so the audience can see what's going on), he made the fights more frenetic and feral, giving each character a unique way of moving and fighting - which ranged from martial arts to street brawling to full-out animalist primal carnage. The best fight (in the author's opinion) was a knife fight between Islin (played by Maggie McDonald, an accomplished stuntwoman of stage/screen/and video games) and Fenrir (Jo-anne Lee, a student at the USA Shaolin Temple and a trained dancer). Both girls moved with dancelike fluidity, yet maintained the frenetic gritty fighting style that fight director Kinter choreographed throughout.
Show Showdown - Patrick Lee
Last Life, is viscerally exciting and technically impressive (and it's far more convincingly executed than what I'm used to seeing on stage). There's also plenty of it - the show hasn't dubbed itself a "fightsical" for nothing. The rough, decidedly R-rated violent smackdowns are underscored with percussive bursts of music, the way they would be in a film: the edge-of-your-seat stage combat is the main reason for the play and sure to satisfy action-seekers.
Duellists: The Forgotten Champions - Theatre 1010
NYTHEATRE.com - Martin Denton
I love Duellists for its ability to make us ponder such serious and important ideas even as it dazzles us with its vigorous and vivid stagecraft. There are about a dozen fight scenes in Duellists, all different and all stunningly exciting.
Standouts among the cast, ….. Rod Kinter, who takes the roles of Athos (one of the Musketeers) and Jacques (one of the duellists in "Duel of the Handkerchief"). Mr. Kinter's every move--from the mere sliding of a bench with his leg to the most high-powered swordplay--is executed with authority and grace; we watch him with the same pleasure that we watch Michael Jordan play basketball or Baryshnikov dance ballet.
…. Have I convinced you yet that Duellists ranks as one of the most exciting, theatrical diversions in New York right now?
OOBR - Mark Harborth
Go see this show! Rod Kinter, Ricki G. Ravitts, Jim Robinson and Joseph Travers have put together an amazing evening of live-action theatre. Originally created by Rod Kinter and Joseph Travers, Duellists is billed as "an evening of swashbuckling stage combat," but truly it is much more……Without exception, the stage combat was flawless…..
…. Kudos to Messrs Kitner and Travers for creating a magical evening of superb theatre…..
Macbeth - Theatre 2020
Brooklyn Heights Blog - Claude Scales
Malcolm, portrayed by Jennifer Reddish, proves the maxim that revenge is a dish best served cold; letting Macduff (Jordan Laroya) finish off Macbeth in a sword fight expertly directed by Rod Kinter.
Coming: A Rock Musical of Biblical Proportions
PHINDIE Independent Coverage of Philadelphia Theatre and Arts - Debra Miller
...letting Macduff (Jordan Laroya) finish off Macbeth in a sword fight expertly directed by Rod Kinter.
Point Break Live!
THEATRE IS EASY (theasy.com) - Amanda LaPergola
Jo-Anne Lee has the unenviable task of feeding “Keanu” his lines, but she also gets to shine in some kick-ass fight choreography (staged by Rod Kinter).
Galactic Girl in: Attack of the Starbarians -
NY Comic Con (2011) & The Brick Theatre
THE MARY SUE - Amanda LaPergola
A special mention needs to go to fight choreographer Rod Kinter and the athletic cast for the highly engaging fight sequences
comiccritique.blog - Adam McGovern
Fight choeographer Rod Kinter should immediately be hired by the MacMahons to move their franchise into the twenty-somethingth century
Richard III - Gallery Players
RG Magazine – Frederick R. Stal
There is also a very notable fight scene, for which Rod Kinter is credited as Fight Director. Kinter serves as Resident Fight Director for Pearl Theatre Company.
Slave ShacK- The AlgonquinTheatre
NYTHEATRE.com – Martin Denton
The uncredited costumes are also effective, as is Rod Kinter's exciting and vivid fight choreography
The Land Whale Murders – The Shelby Company
THE HAPPIEST MEDIUM - Karen Tortora-Lee
He uses fight choreographer Rod Kinter to full advantage throughout; if you’re a fan of Kinter’s brilliantly inventive fights (and I am) you’ll thrill each time the music swells around another great fracas of stage combat.