'Every Little Step' - stumbles but it's worth the trip

May 21st, 1975, off Broadway, at The Public Theatre the first professional performance of ‘A Chorus Line’ was staged; Michael Bennett’s Pulitzer Prize winning show about the dancers, (Gypsies), who perform behind the star.

After a year of taped workshops in which dancers told their stories the format for the show was set. From all the diverse characters that gathered together for Bennett’s workshop a theatrical event was born. A show that proved to be the forerunner for the reality TV shows that fill screens today: ‘So You Think You Can Dance, Australian Idol’ to name just a couple.

The plot for the show is simple; seventeen dancers audition for eight roles, four male and four female, in an upcoming Broadway show. Through the audition process the audience learn that the dancers are not just distractions to keep you entertained while the star changes into yet another, brighter and bigger costume, but that each one of these ‘Gypsies’ has a story and that these stories deserves to be told.

‘A Chorus Line’ grabbed the heart of New York and indeed the world. It transferred from Off Broadway to the Schubert Theatre. It went on to be the longest running show on Broadway running for 6,137 performances. A record since broken by 'Cats' and 'The Phantom of the Opera'.

‘Every Little Step’ is a documentary about the restaging of the show in 2006 on Broadway. Using flashbacks of the original cast and sound clips from that first workshop the filmmakers attempt to link the two audition processes together.

Unfortunately, while the documentary is hugely entertaining, thanks mainly to a superb audition piece by Jason Tam that had the Producers and the audience in tears, and the hunt for Sheila, the film misses, not by much, but enough to leave you wanting something a little more organic from the film makers.

The main problem for me is that there is not enough reference to the past and not enough engagement with the present.

We’re all used to the ‘Reality’ format of such TV shows as the previously mentioned ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and ‘Idol’, shows that encourage you to become emotionally attached to particular performers throughout the competition. 'Every Little Step' for the most part leaves you feeling slightly distanced from those auditioning.

Don’t get me wrong by the end of the film I was an emotional wreck but still left with a feeling that something was missing.

The show ‘A Chorus Line’ succeeds because the audience is invited in to the world of the dancer and we experience the struggle, pain and heartache that they go through to try and achieve their goal. We are seduced by their stories.
‘Every Little Step’ misses because we're not as invested in the people auditioning.

However with all those reservations it’s well worth spending 90 minutes in a darkened theatre and allow this piece of American musical history to take you away.


‘Every Little Step’ is playing at Palace Cinemas – check your local paper for session times.