It’s hard to beat the experience of watching a really good doco and James D Stern and Adam Del Deo’s ‘Every Little Step’ about the story behind the Broadway phenomenon, ‘A Chorus Line’, is about as good as they can get.
The original production of ‘A Chorus Line’ opened at Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre on May 21, 1975 and ended up playing continuously on Broadway for some fifteen years, closing at the end of April, 1990. After a 16 year hiatus, a fresh production of the show, produced by John Breglio, opened on Broadway to much acclaim. ‘Every Little Step’ goes behind the scenes as the new show is being put together, focusing on the very competitive auditioning process. This is combined with a great deal of archival footage especially clips showing the brains behind ‘A Chorus Line’, Michael Bennett.
The film documents how the genesis of ‘A Chorus Line’ was a meeting that took place one cold midnight on January 18, 1974, between Bennett and 18 dancers in an empty exercise centre in Manhatten. Bennett had a reel to reel tape recorder going as, for the next twelve hours, he let the dancers tell their stories, in the way they needed. Bennett had an instinctive feeling that he could make a show from the raw material of their stories, and with help of co-writer Nicholas Dante , choreographer Bob Avian, composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Ed Kleban, that’s exactly what he did with results that he couldn’t have possibly dreamed of.
This doco extends right up until the opening night of Breglio’s Broadway revival. It’s recommended viewing for anyone interested in a career in the theatre, especially in acting, because, above everything else, it shows the hard work and often heartache behind the glamour of show business. As one of the auditioning dancers says to the camera, ‘you can give your very best in your audition, and it still might not be good enough’.
Highly recommended, ‘Every Little Step’ is playing arthouse venues, the Chauvel and Dendy Opera Quays.
