On DVD: 'Every Little Step'

'Every Little Step' (PG-13) ***1/2

Directed and Produced By James D. Stern

I love Musicals on the stage for the sheer energy and harmony and I love how hard it is for the performers to make it on the stage. It takes hard determination, practice and guts to audition for a role in a Musical as shown by "Every Little Step", a fascinating documentary. "A Chorus Line" is one of the most successful Musicals on Broadway. It started on stage in 1974, won a Tony for Best Musical and had run for decades including a new revival that came out not too long ago. One of it's creators Michael Bennett was an extremely talented actor and dancer who made "A Chorus Line" the hit it is today. This new documentary goes behind the scenes of the new revival presenting all the tryouts and giving flashbacks to auditions in the 70's. It also contains beautiful scenes of Bennett talking about his craft and passion and love of Musicals and "A Chorus Line". The present day auditions show perfectly how grueling it is to try out for a role and how emotionally draining it is. The movie does a good job of giving a little background on all the men and women who are trying to get that spot. "A Chorus Line" is actually about that struggle and anxiety of making a name on the stage so that makes this movie even more fascinating. All the people trying out are decent and talented people who bare their souls as Michael Bennett did. They include Jason who is trying out for one of the leads and in a fascinating and powerful scene his audition brings the casting agent and director to tears. I felt that they also saw a little Michael Bennett in him. I got to know all these men and women and it was a pleasure spending time with them and watching their brave journey. The film ends beautifully with Michael Bennett accepting the Tony and giving a beautiful, heartfelt speech and then finally showing us the final cast and then fade. This is a powerful and spellbinding documentary and if you love Broadway Musicals it is a must see. I was enthralled and I even got into the auditions and rooting for who I wanted to see get the part. "Every Little Step" is one of the best documentaries of the year or any year.