Greetings,
I assume everyone has heard about that whole art imitating life imitating life or whatever order you want to put them in. Well, I found a pretty good example of that in the documentary Every Little Step.
Now I will not assume that everyone knows the plot to the Broadway musical, A Chorus Line. Basically, it tells the tale of a line (WHAT!) of people in an audition, where they tell stories from their own lives. To music, of course. And all of those stories that are in the play come from the real life stories of a group of dancers. In Every Little Step, we see the lives of people being documented as they audition for a revival of A Chorus Line on Broadway. Got all that? If not, we are watching real life performers auditioning for a play about auditioning based on the stories of real life performers. Take a moment and unswirl your mind.
As someone who likes musicals, as well as being a behind the scenes voyeur, I enjoy this documentary very much. Not only do we get to witness the stress and excitement and struggles and triumphs of the auditioning process, we also get to hear about how the show was originally put together. There are quite a few past interviews with the late Michael Bennett, as well as newer ones with original cast members like Donna McKechnie and Baayork Lee, the composer Marvin Hamlisch and Bob Avian, who did choreography for the original show and directed the revival. And we also got to hear some of the original recordings of those initial interviews, which was interesting to hear them telling the stories and have them bleed into the songs they inspired.
I have to say some of the most compelling things about this documentary came from the current dancers and singers who were auditioning. A lot of them are so open about their experiences in the theater, big time and small time, and they become so endearing to the audience watching this movie. We want to root for these people. You see the passion of people like Jessica Lee Goldyn, Chryssie Whitehead, J. Elaine Marcos, Natascia Diaz and so many others and you want them to succeed, if not here, then elsewhere. If not in this show, then another one. You just want them to make it.
One of the things I really love is that you get to see this whole process from people who are in so many different stages of it. We get to see the newer people, the people who have been doing it professionally for years, know the roller coaster ride of it and want to stay on, and the people who have moved on from that life but still know and feel the passion of it. One of the most beautiful moments in the film is when Charlotte d'Amboise, who is auditioning for Cassie, visits her father, Jacques, who was once a dancer himself. He talks so poignantly about what it's worth to anyone to do what they love, what they are willing to endure and sacrifice to be able to live a dream. Of course, he was talking about dancing for himself, but he was addressing anyone who has ever had a drive to do anything.
One of the auditionees, Rachelle Rak, also said something that everyone should take to heart. She talked about how you have to look at yourself everyday and like yourself, because they're not always going to like you. Like yourself, work hard and be passionate. And, at its heart, I think that this is exactly what this documentary is about is just that. Being passionate about something, anything, and working toward achieving a dream. I would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting to get into the theater, one way or another, but it's pretty good for everyone else, too. Even if you're not a hardcore fan of A Chorus Line, which I don't know if I would call myself even, you can still really enjoy this. Of course, if you hate A Chorus Line, you might have some issues, because there's a lot of it here. A LOT!
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
