Every Little Step

Delivers.
I watched this as a fan of documentaries; not the musical itself, or the art form. So, I’ve never seen “A Chorus Line” in its entirety. As a viewer I was at a loss and struggled to keep the character parts sorted with the actors who are auditioning for specific roles. The film considers you may be such a viewer and fleshes out the roles of the musical with backstories from those who inspired them. But you will struggle if you come at this film with no history with the musical. The film fleshes out some roles for the viewer notably “Connie and Cassie”. Additionally, you’ll hear the backstory about the creation of the musical and its creator Michael Bennett. The film does a fantastic job of weaving him in throughout the production but doesn’t allow him to cast too big of a shadow. The real the lynch pin of the film is the production itself and it stays on target. I was totally enthralled by the overwhelming talent so many of these performers have, some of them are top tier and it shows. Because of the flood of performers you really start to see what the production team sees. They perform the herculean task of whittling down 3,000 plus performers to just the performing cast. Auditions jump right out at you and you’re amazed. One actor is even more phenomenal than the source material he eventually portrays bringing the production staff to tears. And then there’s something I’m totally a sucker for which is showcased in the film, and that is the concept of, “hard work trumps talent; when talent stops working hard”. Two performers; one who even performed her part previously, the other who allows his arrogance to trip him up, miss the mark and are cut from the production. You’ll see a difficult performance described as being, “the Four Minute Mile” live up to it’s difficult reputation as performers crash and one nails it. One fair critique is the absence of the many male roles in “Every Little Step”. But as I’m not familiar with the musical it’s based on, it really didn’t stand out to me as it did other reviewers. Maybe because this film stays tight. It covers months of production, past histories, human interest stories, and the effects of ruthless competition in just 96 minutes. It has a great story to tell and it neither meanders of sprawls off into needless homages into the difficulty of making it big. It delivers for me and it’s worth anyone’s time if they have even just a passing interest in the performing arts.

“Every Little Step” strides boldly and with grace
I saw “A Chorus Line” 11 times on Broadway during its original run. I had strong opinions on Donna McKechnie versus Anne Reinking. I knew every word and every step – could do entire dance sequences without stopping for a drink of water. “What I Did For Love” WAS (is?) my anthem.As far as I know – no filming of the original show was made.The movie of “A Chorus Line” (with Michael Douglas et al) was so awful that I wanted to picket theaters that screened it and carry a sign that said “DANGER: Do Not Enter or you will never know that this story is really a masterpiece. REALLY.” It was like seeing the Mona Lisa painted by a 3rd grader on black velvet: not the real thing.”Every Little Step” tells the story of casting the revival of “A Chorus Line”. It does a superb job of taking me back there – back to where I was hopeful, emotional, committed and limber.It doesn’t cheat or exaggerate: it doesn’t have to. The truth of the story shines through. The performers are fantastic both when they are performing in auditions, and when they are not. The plot lines build naturally with all the inherent drama and uncertainty that IS the lives of these performers. The viewer involvement is as deep and complete as it was with the original show: we find favorites, yet love them all and wish they could all get the part, we tense up and time our breathing to that of the talent who are strutting their stuff over and over and over again.It is a trip back in time with pretty photography, no editing room pyrotechnics (a la “Chicago”, the film), great sound and amazing people who fill your laptop, HD TV, and/or soul.If you never saw the original show, or the revival, I am sorry. But luckily for all of us, “Every Little Step” is a viable, satisfying and memorable alternative.

As a musicals buff and erstwhile performer, this DVD is especially interesting to me. I saw this in the cinema and loved it, hence why I bought it.

Gift for my musical theatre daughter…she loved it.