Every Little Step
Directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern
2008/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Kiss today goodbye
And point me toward tomorrow
We did what we had to do
Won’t forget, can’t regret
What I did for love — “What I Did for Love” – Lyrics by Edward Klebam
This film combines two of my first loves — documentaries and Broadway musicals. So naturally it was perfect viewing for Lockdown.
The movie covers the eight-month exhaustive audition process for the cast of the 2006 Broadway revival of Michael Bennett’s A Chorus Line. So it’s a movie about auditions for a musical about auditions for a musical. It is a love letter to all those Broadway performers who dance their hearts out with little public recognition.
It’s about breaking into the business and trying to sustain one’s career once there. Along the way, we get try-outs featuring many of the musical’s numbers performed by multiple candidates for the line. We also get the back stories of the dancers as well as a chronicle of the creation of the original musical by Bennett and his fellow dancers.
I just loved this. If you have similar tastes, you will too.
The cast of the Broadway revival, more than 10 years on, in a virtual performance (6 minutes) during quarantine can be found on YouTube by searching “A Chorus Line in Quarantine”. It won’t let me link. Inspiring!
