Every Little Step - 4 smiles

Four years ago the casting for 19 parts for the revival of “A Chorus Line” was announced. The pool of applicants, in the thousands, snaked down Broadway. The documentary “Every Little Step” shows how this hopeful multitude of singers and dancers was winnowed down to a final few and gives us a rare peek into the audition process. There are stories here and it is fitting because “A Chorus Line” is about the real people behind those performers on stage. And these new stories are no less gripping than the original ones. One hopeful from Parsippany, NJ gamely takes the bus to New York, her dreams firmly in place. Another, a veteran, tries desperately to recreate whatever it was the judges liked in one of her earlier auditions. A third finds herself competing against her best friend. You clearly see how each really means it when he/she sings “I Really Need This Job.”

Interspersed throughout this drama are archival audiotapes and video footage of legendary choreographer-director Michael Bennett, composer Marvin Hamlisch and original cast members that clearly reveals how “A Chorus Line” came to be. The original co-choreographer Bob Avian, who directed the Broadway revival and is a central figure in “Every Little Step,” provides the cohesive element that bridges the past and the present. “A Chorus Line” ran on Broadway for 15 years and remains the longest-running American musical. “Every Little Step” taps into that ‘singular sensation’ and it’s impossible not to get caught up in the performers’ struggle to win a part in a Broadway musical. 4/24/09