These were people who dedicated their lives day in and day out to something they loved. Says Del Deo, “It wasn’t about people coming out of nowhere to land a recording contract or get into the pages of People magazine.
“We concentrated on the absolutely rigid and disciplined process.” “We were careful to keep a dignity to the process, careful not to take potshots,” says Stern, a veteran Broadway and film producer and documentarian. Stern and Adam Del Deo, the creators of the documentary, are quick to paint their film as the “anti-'American Idol.’ ”
The voyeurism of watching a table of professionals assessing the relative merits and flaws of those auditioning may bear a superficial similarity to the omnipresent TV reality shows. The documentary kinetically interweaves the casting of the revival - winnowed from 3,000 applicants - with rare archival footage and interviews with the original creators, including star Donna McKechnie, composer Marvin Hamlisch, and Bennett associate and friend Bob Avian. That’s all part of the story.”Īs delineated in “Every Little Step,” that “story” started on a snowy night in January 1974 when Bennett gathered 22 dancers for an all-night soul-baring session that would become the basis for the longest-running American musical in history.
“But now I think: Why not? If the audience is able to see all the joy, passion and heart that I put into the audition, then why not the pain and disappointment too. “I thought to myself at the time, ‘Why did I ever sign that waiver?’ ” recalls Rak, looking back to January 2006 and commenting on the fact that the Actors’ Equity union had given permission for cameras to film auditions for the first time ever.
The $2-million movie about actors auditioning for a musical is a multilayered, fugue-like celebration not only of what it means to be a professional dancer on Broadway but also of the iconic musical that captured it so well. The result is the new documentary “Every Little Step,” which opens Friday. Indeed, those cameras recorded more than 500 hours of the audition process for the revival of the landmark musical created by the late Michael Bennett. “It’s all good,” she gamely tells Jay Binder, the casting director, as she fumbles for her dance bag, only too aware that cameras are recording every humiliating moment. Dancer Rachelle Rak climbs “up a steep and very narrow stairway” to a dressing room at the Broadhurst Theatre to await the worst news of her professional life: She will not be getting the role of Sheila in the Broadway revival of “A Chorus Line,” an ambition she has poured her whole life into, not to mention the rigorous eight months of the audition itself.