Every Little Step

An impeccable documentary, truly engaging and, in many ways, it supersedes its subject matter convincingly. The original Chorus Line was a documentary of sorts itself, drawn from recording that the original creators made of struggling New York actors as they attended audition after audition. Their own life stories energized the original production, with each part workshopped over many months to create the eventual smash it would become.

With Every Little Step, we’re again at a series of auditions, this time for the revival of the classic. Thus, we’re following the very narrative of the play in the casting of the play itself, witnessing the arduous process in all its variety. With impressive access and a keen eye, the filmmakers trace the audition process, while simultaneously providing a history of the original production, highlighting changes in Broadway over the last several decades, and giving us a crash course on what it takes to make it in a show of this magnitude.

This is no American Idol voyeurism, each of these performers gives their all, the level of their performance at times simply astonishing. These are pros competing against pros, not simply some silly talent show, and by tracing their achievements and failures we get an even higher appreciation for the story that Chorus Line tells.

It’s impossible not to fall in love with this flick, it’s so joyous of the artform without flinching from the stark realities that underlie the “business” of show business. A tremendous achievement, a documentary that’s simply a singular sensation.