I watched this on DVD last night and it brought tears to my eyes, several times. This is the best film I have seen all year.
"A Chorus Line" and I became acquainted in the winter of 1980, on Broadway, during my first trip to Manhattan, a business trip. A bunch of us would get half-price tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square. Being a country boy from the Cajun country of Louisiana I didn't quite know what to make of the show, especially when the "Dance 10, Looks 3", often called the "T&A" song, was performed. But the show stuck with me. I can't tell you how many times I have listened to the cast soundtrack on CD. "At the Ballet" is my favorite song of all time, I still can't listen to it without getting goosebumps.
So in 2005, 30 years after it opened its historic run, a brand new revival of "A Chorus Line" was planned, and this film, "Every Little Step", is about that revival.
It is a gripping, mostly documentary film. It mixes in ample clips of the original show. Over 3000 dancers began the audition process. Several members of the original production are featured. One young man's acting was so good during his audition that the show's director was in tears at the end of this performance, as was I. It is the ultimate "reality show."
In the end a Broadway production like "A Chorus Line" is just a show. It is just entertainment. But to those individuals who make up the cast, it is their lives. This film lets us see closely into a part of their lives and it is fascinating.
Now, I need to buy my own copy of the DVD.
"A Chorus Line" and I became acquainted in the winter of 1980, on Broadway, during my first trip to Manhattan, a business trip. A bunch of us would get half-price tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square. Being a country boy from the Cajun country of Louisiana I didn't quite know what to make of the show, especially when the "Dance 10, Looks 3", often called the "T&A" song, was performed. But the show stuck with me. I can't tell you how many times I have listened to the cast soundtrack on CD. "At the Ballet" is my favorite song of all time, I still can't listen to it without getting goosebumps.
So in 2005, 30 years after it opened its historic run, a brand new revival of "A Chorus Line" was planned, and this film, "Every Little Step", is about that revival.
It is a gripping, mostly documentary film. It mixes in ample clips of the original show. Over 3000 dancers began the audition process. Several members of the original production are featured. One young man's acting was so good during his audition that the show's director was in tears at the end of this performance, as was I. It is the ultimate "reality show."
In the end a Broadway production like "A Chorus Line" is just a show. It is just entertainment. But to those individuals who make up the cast, it is their lives. This film lets us see closely into a part of their lives and it is fascinating.
Now, I need to buy my own copy of the DVD.