User reviews

I saw "A Chorus Line" on Broadway in the early 80's and didn't like the play. The movie, with Michael Douglas, is terrible. However, being a Cinophile, I was interested in seeing a film about the trials and tribulations of performers auditioning for a part.

The film had a good balance of the history of the play, the past performers and performances, and the new hopefuls. It was interesting to see that the audition process, with callbacks, went on for months. From the start, you can see the long odds against a performer being chosen. Three thousand people competing for thirty opportunities.

I laughed, cried, cheered, and felt the heartache of those who pursued their dreams. Happily, I would see the film again.

I think some of the reviewers have mistaken Every Little Step for a documentary on the creation of A Chorus Line. It was a documentary on casting the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line with some archival information. The archival information did focus on Michael Bennett and Marvin Hamlisch was interviewed extensively, but to say that it excluded others is, I think, way off base. This was not a documentary on the creation of A Chorus Line. The contributors were all listed at the end of Every Little Step.

Having said that I thought the archival information was very interesting. Some of the original recordings were played and they appeared to be included in the play almost verbatim, not to diminish the fine work of Kirkwood and Kleban. They showed the various singer/dancers competing side by side, or singing a song line by line with one doing the 1st line, another doing the next and so one. You did hear some songs multiple times but certainly not to the point where it became annoying or anything.

Very interesting and entertaining to see how the cast was put together, who they chose and who they didn't. I HIGHLY recommend this film.

While "Every Little Step" is hardly cinema verite, it certainly seems to be a credible effort to document the Broadway process--from the first cattle call audition to the final call-back 8 months later. In between the filmmaker interviews old players from "A Chorus Line"'s impressive legacy and culls bits from the original tape archives that established the framework of the '75 classic as well as the Broadway revival.

Whenever innocence and passion are combined, something sublime occurs. I suppose that is why I wept through much of "Every Little Step". I was definitely rooting for several performers, and remember how (in a former life)disappointing it can be when you're the last to be cut or the first to be forgotten.

A Chorus Line and I came of age right around the same time, so it has not only an aesthetic appeal for me but a nostalgic one as well. I've seen several live versions and of course the movie, which could never measure up to any live performance just because of the nature of the subject, but made the show accessible to those who couldn't see it live. I did not know what to expect upon viewing Every Little Step, but how could I be disappointed given the subject matter and its irresistible music?

Reviewers here have criticized a variety of omissions in the film, charging that it is inaccurate and/or incomplete. However, I see Every Little Step as more of a multi-media magazine piece than a documentary. How amazing to listen to the interviews with the dancers back in 1974 which provided the inspiration for the musical! I thoroughly enjoyed the blending of footage of original auditions and performances in the 70s with the current audition process for the 2006 revival. Though I was disappointed not to see auditions for Morales and wondered why some of the stories were not completed, I did learn some things in retrospect that I had never known back then (eg, the Kelly Bishop I always enjoyed in Dirty Dancing is the Sheila I have been listening to all these years on the Broadway cast album). The film successfully engaged me emotionally and made me realize that it is A Chorus Line which inspired my interest in American Idol throughout these years and why that show continues to be a separate entity from these other wannabe reality shows. ELS also sent me right to the internet to dig up more Chorus Line history and cast info and You Tube performances to keep me involved and singing all afternoon, even after finishing the extra features on the DVD (there are plenty). What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

I didn't set out to be a critical viewer of this film, only to find out more about this timeless piece, and I enjoyed every little step of it.

The device of looking at the creation of A CHORUS LINE through the process of the auditions for a revival of A CHORUS LINE works very well indeed, and everybody with grease paint in their veins will respond. I do think the film one of the handful of films about the theatre that gets some of the sweat of the process accurately.

My only reservation is that the names of some of the writers of the show aren't spoken in the film. I am glad to learn that this will be adjusted in the DVD release. And this shouldn't discourage anybody from the pleasure of seeing it in a theatre. I saw it surrounded by actors, and they broke into applause several times during the run.

When I go to the movies, usually I watch the action-adventure, thrills and chills-type films, but i decided to take a break from them and focus on something like documentaries. Because sometimes the mind desires peaceful things. I need to balance my Yin and Yang.

Usually documentary movies are focused on big issues, like AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FAHRENHEIT 9/11. But as of recently, I ran into documentaries based on thing no one has ever seen or heard of. Like THE KING OF KONG: A FIST FULL OF QUARTERS about two video game champions and EVERY LITTLE STEP.

Now about that film, I found it interesting to watch and I learned about not only the story of the revival, but the story of how the show itself got started back in the 70's. And I found out how tough it is to be in showbiz ("Eat nails!"). The surprising fact is the the people in charge of the 2006 revival of A CHORUS LINE were actually veterans of the 1975 production and it was based on the lives on some of the stars. Surprising eh?

I can't wait to watch the DVD of this film, I can't wait to see what the film-maker was thinking.

All in all, I highly recommend it.

"Kiss today goodbye/ The sweetness and the sorrow . . ." A Chorus Line

The business of show business, its pain and its glory, is never better depicted than in A Chorus Line, the 1974 Broadway musical smash of Michael Bennett's genius, reprised on stage and film to this day. In a sense, it is always pointed "t'ward tomorrow" with its eternal production and well-deserved acclaim for its incisive depiction of young actors trying out for the big time, with all the attendant sweetness and sorrow of competition, call-backs, rejections, and triumphs.

The documentary Every Little Step repeats that hard-won glory by recounting the process of the tryouts for the 2006 Broadway revival: The candidates go through the same Olympic-type workouts and tryouts as the characters in the fictional play, which itself was based on Bennett's interviews with young thespians. Not dull for a second, the doc watches several leading candidates on and off stage as they try for and sometimes win the roles that must fit them physically, temperamentally, and almost spiritually.

Unforgettable is Jason Tam doing Paul's monologue (a veiled Michael Bennett role) about his parents and his homosexuality. His crying is so believable that Bob Avian, the original choreographer and collaborator with Bennett, cries himself. Avian, in a sympathetic Simon Cowell role, is brilliant dealing with candidates and selecting the winners. He gives a good name to all the impresarios responsible for the productions to which we award Tony's and Oscars.

Watch out, this entertaining and tearful doc will get you looking on the web for a local revival of A Chorus Line, something that not even West Side Story could do.

"As we travel on, Love's what we'll remember! Kiss today goodbye, And point me t'ward tomorrow. We did what we had to do-- Won't forget, can't regret What I did for love . . ."

Greetings again from the darkness. A Chorus Line is a mainstay and iconic piece of Broadway history. Now we get a documentary on the behind the scenes process of auditioning for a revival of a musical about the process of auditioning for a musical stage production. Luckily, Michael Douglas is not involved in this one. Sadly, Kirkwood and Kleban seemed to be overlooked while the genius of Michael Bennett is the focus. His original co-choreographer Bob Avian is directing the revival.

While American TV viewers have been brainwashed into believing American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are somehow what show business is all about, directors Adam Del Deo and James D Stern show us what the world of a singer/dancer/actor is truly like. The pressure and stress of having to compete for sometimes only a few seconds against hundreds of other talented people ... sometimes while rushing to one's "real" job are just excruciating. These people are trying to realize dreams and relentless hard work for their entire lives and so few actually "make it".

This documentary approach is centered on the famous audio recordings that Michael Bennett held with the initial group back in the early 70's. Marvin Hamlisch recalls going through those transcripts and creating the songs that would become Broadway staples. Mr. Hamlisch also brings us insight into the impact that actress Marsha Mason had on the success of the play after she attended (with her husband Neil Simon). Good stuff.

Sure the auditions tug at the viewer's emotions a bit, but that is because we are rarely exposed to the pressure cooker of what happens prior to the curtain rising. Jason Tam's audition is worth the price of admission alone.

Were egos involved in making this film? Absolutely. But in reality, ego is what drives these creative forces. When it is damaged, it immediately impacts the talent. We get a first hand look at that. If you are fan of A Chorus Line, this is a must see. If you are intrigued by the Broadway process, then you will certainly see aspects you have never seen before.

A documentary on the revival of "A Chorus Line" on Broadway in 2006. It goes over the rehearsals and has interviews with the casting directors, the dance instructor and Donna McKechnie (going over the original production). It focuses on various performers and shows their auditions. At the end we find out who gets the job--or doesn't. There's also some very grainy b&w footage from the original show.

I saw a "Chorus Line" on stage multiple times in the 1980s. I found the play funny, sad, touching and just brilliant. I haven't seen it in ages but I clearly remember all the songs and characters. This documentary only focuses on the characters who have songs. Nothing wrong with that but it gets repetitious. I don't think I can ever listen to "Dance Ten, Looks Three" or "At the Ballet" again--they're done virtually nonstop here! Also some of the scenes look very staged, the direction is clumsy and some people appear and disappear at an alarming rate. Still the interviews are fun and there are little facts dropped throughout the movie that some people might not know. The best acting done here is by Jason Tam. He doesn't sing but he has a monologue about coming out to his parents and breaks down crying (it's in the play). His acting in that was just perfect and more than a few people in my audience were crying along with him. That alone was a highlight. Worth seeing if you're a gay man or a lover of "A Chorus Line". Slightly recommended.

Del Deo and Stern's new film records the tryouts for the 2006 revival of the big Seventies Broadway hit, Chorus Line. Fans of musicals and song-and-dance generally, as well as devotees of the joy and tears of the theatrical life and the fierce competition of Broadway, and certainly anyone who adored the original musical or its revival, will not want to miss this. Others may be left relatively cold by a film that at times tries to tell too many human interest stories, both about the makers of the hit musical (which opened in 1975) and about the experiences of (well some of) the thousands of hopefuls who turned up for auditions four years ago. But the thrill and the excitement are there, as well as the heartbreak. And the sheer fun of witnessing a moment or two when somebody absolutely "nails" an audition, and shows a just-right-for-the-part talent as an actor, singer, and dancer, all at the same time. These sweet-spot moments don't come often, but when they do, they can take your breath away and they can make you weep.

Immensely popular and a hot ticket at the time, Chorus Line itself plays to hardcore Broadway show fans. In conventional terms, it's not a play, and it's not a musical either. It's a "chorus line." It is built on the stylized conceit of presenting a literal line, a row of a dozen men and a dozen women ranged like soldiers along the stage in front of the audience who tell stories and entertain by singing, dancing, and, of course, acting. One by one, and in alternation, they tell their stories, which in turn are in some sense the universal stories of show people -- the early talent, the inspiration, the commitment -- the one-way bus ticket to Manhattan with a few dollars in the pocket and a small valise of clothes and a big dream. Bob Avian and Michael Bennett were the original collaborators, with Charlotte d'Amboise and others on the team that put the thing together. The genesis was a series of sessions where a group of dancers got together with Avian and Bennett in a loft with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a big bottle of bad red wine and blabbed into a microphone about their lives. It was Bennett's belief, which Avian endorsed, that these collective and individual stories could in some way or another be made into a show that people would want to see and that would be exciting and fresh. A show with choreography added and the songs built out of the stories crafted by the gifted composer Marvin Hamlisch.

It was a collective process to decide how to make it work. One of the essential tricks was not to be too literal in linking certain testimony to a single voice or character and to keep all the two dozen of the "line" somehow in play. Individual soliloquies were important, and solo songs, and also ensemble song-and-dance numbers. What emerged was a collective picture of theatrical life built out of real individual experiences from the spoken words of the tapes.

One of the things that put it across as a show on Broadway was that Broadway fans are fascinated with the individual stories of how real people make it to the glamor and the bright lights, and that this somewhat vérité style of presentation used in the play seemed radical and original and of-the-zeitgeist. Chorus Line was Chorus Line and nothing else. It was at once every musical and no musical ever done before. It fit the somewhat radical taste of the Seventies and also the very Seventies interest in the confessional mode. Because some of the stories were very sad and very personal.

You've got to hand it to the film: it thoroughly documents this process of creation, while skillfully juggling the story of the three thousand or so hopefuls who showed up and got gradually whittled down to two dozen for the revival. But beyond this statement, it's very difficult to summarize the film, because too many people are involved. There is an eight-month gap between the original tryouts and the final auditions, and one woman with solid Broadway experience fails because she's asked to recapture the innocence of her first portrayal of the part, and she just can't remember what she did back then.

One moment you won't forget is Justin Tam's "tour de force" speech as the gay character Paul, who recounts as a young dancer being hired to play dressed up as a girl, and then discovers that his parents, who don't know about him, have come to see the performance, but do not judge him. Inexplicably, Tam's reading just makes you cry from the first sentence, and he broke up the whole table of audition judges, who applauded him after it was over. Something magical happened for Tam: he had incarnated the role totally and appealingly, and there wasn't much doubt about who would get the role after that. This is the mystery, and also the heartbreak, of auditions. Lots of talent comes in, but even when the sometimes narrow requirements of look and body type and voice, etc., have been met, how can you "hit it" just in those five minutes you get to perform? You don't need much: just major amounts of work, talent, heart, intuition, and luck. And this dedication the film and its participants celebrate.

The film seems at its most desperate and uninformative when it edits the performances of a single song and dance by three men -- and the men's auditions are very unrepresented to begin with -- into a single excerpted performance. It tells you nothing about the performers or the song. Ultimately, Del Deo and Stern have too much material to work with.

The directors of Every Little Step achieve their intended goal: getting the viewer's tear ducts to well up at least a couple of times, as we observe the travail of Broadway aspirants and young veterans vying for the coveted roles in a revival of A Chorus Line. But as a film and especially as a non-fiction (documentary) film, it is a complete failure. Instead of learning something, we are treated to at best misinformation and at worst a calculated distortion of history.

First of all, a documentary about the genesis of A Chorus Line in the mid-1970s and its impact makes sense -certainly it is a pillar in Broadway history and deserves that sort of attention. Its 2006 revival made a lot of money and entertained a lot of people, but is hardly a footnote in theater history, and does not merit this attention. So the subject of this documentary takes on a more universal theme, drawn from the play of course: "I Need a Job", and how difficult it is to compete with about 3,000 other people at auditions to get one. Sounds like "American Idol" and its many early weed-out episodes each year, and that is about the level of achievement here.

The distortions are crucial errors, either of omission or just plain intentional. The writers of the play, James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, are hardly mentioned at all, and this film leads the viewer to automatically infer that Michael Bennett created A Chorus Line on the basis of his marathon audio taping session of dancers, from which the play's characters and content were derived. The dancers Tony Stevens and Michon Peacock, who concocted these tapings in the first place, also get short shrift. Of course Bennett receives and deserves the lion's share of the credit and goes into the history books as Mr. Chorus Line, but to leave out his collaborators, especially as important as Kirkwood, is ludicrous. It took Pauline Kael to point out (quite forcefully) that Citizen Kane = Orson Welles was an exaggeration, bringing screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz back into the equation. The parallel in blowing up the director's contribution here is obvious.

Similarly, there are entertaining interview segments here with composer Marvin Hamlisch, who delightfully credits Marsha Mason with making a key suggestion to Bennett re: the fate of the character Cassie -that is one of the film's most informative moments. However, the film ultimately gives Mason, just a fan in the audience basically, more time and credit for A Chorus Line than Edward Kleban, who is never mentioned at all, yet wrote the lyrics for all the songs! Pretty damning omission -reminds me of the latter-day cult of Burt Bacharach -hardly ever mentioned in tributes to BB is Hal David, who wrote all those classic lyrics to Walk On By, Look of Love, Close to You, What the World Needs Now Is Love, Do You Know the Way to San Jose and so on.

I can see the cop out already: "we weren't making a film about A Chorus Line but just about the revival". But Bennett and especially the audio tapes leading to the original are central subjects in this film, so there is no excuse for distorting the record.

I grant that there are memorable moments in Every Little Step -such as the soon-to-be-legendary footage of an audition for the role of Paul by Jason Tam. But this is just footage culled from hundreds of hours of pseudo-vérité documenting of the 2006 auditions and rehearsals. The principals, especially director Bob Avian and his casting director, are on their best behavior because the cameras are running -the supposed "truth" of what we see strikes me as about as authentic as the whole corpus of Reality TV (I'm exaggerating, but the fallacy of cinéma vérité needs to be emphasized over & over again). What we have is more of a promotional video for the revival (who needs it?) than a documentary film, with about as much value (apart from preserving Tam's highlight for future excerpting) as the thousands of Making-Of promotions created for nearly every crappy movie coming out of Hollywood.

I've seen a Chorus Line about a dozen times since my high school performed it in 1978. I've also seen the revival. The music still gives me goosebumps, and I had goosebumps sitting in the theater as they began playing Micheal Bennett's taped interviews from the early 70s when he gathered together a group of dancers and had them talk about their lives, their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations...and what would happen if they could never dance again. That's right...the legendary tapes that any Chorus Line fan knows about but has never heard. If you love this show the way I love this show, you'll find Every Little Step truly fascinating. Jason Tam's audition for the part of Paul was one of the highlights, leaving just about everyone - on screen and off - in tears. I've seen this kid on One Life to Live and never gave him a second thought. Now I have intense respect for his acting skills.

How ironic - a film that shows the struggles of dancers trying to earn a place in a show about the struggles of dancers trying to earn a place in a show... It's worth every penny, and I'll definitely buy it on DVD. I highly recommend it to anyone who has seen and loved a Chorus Line.

We have seen A Chorus Line 6 times over the past 34 years since it opened in 1975. We saw the original cast in 1975 and then again in London and in Florida.

It is our favorite show of all time and this documentary of how someone gets to Broadway via audition after audition including the disappointments is the essence of A Chorus Line. Including reel to reel audio tapes of Michael Bennett as he created the show were fantastic as was following the current set up of the revival. Marvin Hamlisch was there to tell us about his writing the entire score for the show.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the theatre full to capacity on a Sunday afternoon in hot Florida.

It brought back so many memories and the music is still among the very best ever written for Broadway. Every single song in the show is memorable and many were singing along as they did them.

We recommend it highly when and if it comes to your city. If not, the DVD I am sure will be available in a few months.

Wow! Thank you Michael Bennett, he would have been very proud of this touching tribute to him and his friends.

Fascinating documentary following the auditions by various aspiring actors to be a new production of A Chorus Line.

Not only is the process itself interesting, but you end up getting drawn in to which of your favourites will make it through the various stages and into the production. Surprisingly riveting stuff

I can see how if you just love the Broadway genre, you might just love this. But for those of us who think the heavy handed dramatics are too much, this felt a little thin. I wish there was a little bit more about Michael Bennett (the creator of the show) and why he personally felt driven to make the show, rather than staring at the casting team again. Their descriptions of the parts didn't bring audience members who don't know much about the show into their world. It was a nice reminder of the music from the show, but overall the doc seemed a bit too cliche for me.

I think this was a brilliantly done film. It may have its flaws (Not necessarily crediting everyone properly where credit is due), but that aside, it's a beautiful look in the auditioning process from both the actors' and producers' sides, using a the audition process for the revival of the groundbreaking musical about the auditioning process.

The structure of the film is wonderful. This is a documentary that works well, not just as a documentary, but as a film. I suppose that we may be a bit jaded by watching "American Idol" and similar shows which expose some of the auditioning process, this goes a bit deeper, looking at performers who operate at the highest level of work. Some of the audition clips show performances that are astonishing and thrilling. That American Equity Association, the union for Broadway actors, allowed the filmmakers to film the actor/dancer/singers to be filmed, it allowed us to see the audition process for performers such as Charlotte D'Amboise, already a star for her performance in Chicago.

That this film goes back to original interviews with Michael Bennett and some of the taping of dancers and actors who spend most of their time on the audition line and expose their inner selves when then perform, it helps us empathize with these performers who aspire to be part of one of the great acting pieces for musical theater performers.

The film never sinks to maudlin profiles of the performers, unlike American Idol and the like. That the filmmaker doesn't do this allows us to come to the film. Never did I feel that I was being hit over the head or were the emotions generated undeserved.

In addition to the clever device of the watching the audition process for a musical about the audition process, the film really gives you a sense that it's a challenging, grueling process for both sides. And it's incredible thinking about this "interview" process only results in a contract for 6 or 7 months. How would you like to spend 8 months preparing to interview for a job that only may give you 6 months of employment? Finally, the film keeps us in suspense, much the way watching an American Idol episode, so the film works on many, many levels. I'm glad that the producers are correcting some of the credits for the DVD release. Those omissions didn't keep me from being enthralled with this documentary. Anyone remotely interested in theater or musical theater ought to see this film.

This movie delves into the audition process of the revival of A Chorus Line. Warning! You will now want to see the movie and have the songs rolling through your brain ad nauseam...

Who knew the audition process took that long! Some of them really screwed the pooch and lost the roles in the process.

An interesting look at a well loved and known Broadway play and movie.

This documentary is on the short list for the Oscar next year.

It is a look backstage at what goes on in casting for a Broadway play. The play in question is A Chorus Line, and the film focuses on a dozen or so dancers that are auditioning for a part.

What you quickly find out is that these dancers started when they were three or four and are in as good or better shape than any pro athlete.

Then come the auditions. The ups and downs, the callbacks, being just a little bit off, not having that spark they are looking for; judging these things is just as hard as auditioning. I really have a greater appreciation for what these performers go through.

All that work makes for a fantastic final product.

27 May 2010. If this was a perfect world with an unlimited budget, perhaps this movie could have won best documentary, but life isn't so much of a fantasy. Take the best of American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, throw in the amazing power of the original Broadway play itself, and create a personal fusion of reality (the original source material and taped session) and the reality of the moment of revival rehearsal) you get an amazing, emotionally touching and usually comprehensible you are there experience. This is real life transformed into a musical transformed into a reality show/documentary that emotes all of the deeply emotional hard work, anxiety, fear, and triumphs of dancing and the performing arts. The side by side competition, the original intent of the musical to usher in you are the director choosing the cast experience is there. The only weakness comes from the inability due to the likely logistics, limited budget, and the lack of a psychic to better follow in more depth the storyline of some of the main characters all the way through and the sometimes difficulty of following so many real life people. This movie is powerful enough to even exceed the captivating The Company (2003) dance documentary as well as the less than compelling movie version of the musical (1985). Nevertheless, this is a dazzling and personal display of the sacrifices and the talents and fine nuances of musical Broadway that few ever get to experience.