What I'm Watching #221

"Every Little Step" is the story of the selection of the cast for the most recent revival of the 1976 Tony Award winning musical, "A Chorus Line". It not only chronicles the process of auditioning the new cast, but it tell us the story of the origins of the original musical with ample exerps from Michael Bennett (1943-1987) its creative genius.

For me this musical also holds a very personal place in my affections.

In the final years of my high school, I somehow convinced some of my classmates to join me on theatrical excursions into Detroit to see touring Broadway productions at the Fisher Theater. The first time that I did this it was a play called, "Sherlock Holmes" with Leonard Nimoy as Holmes, and Alan Suess as Professor Moriarity (somewhere I have a playbill with both of their autographs....). On another memorable evening, we also attended a performance of "Hello Dolly" starring Carol Channing produced by the Houston Lite Opera back when the NEA was flush with cash. The last event that I orchestrated before I left for college was "A Chorus Line."

It was a night full of epiphany: The language, the ideas, the angst, the sexuality, the honesty, and the triumph. For example, when the character of Michael spoke his truth, it cut me to the heart. I remember feeling unexpectedly stripped naked before my friends. It would be years before I was actually honest with them, and for those friends, my silence was well placed.

How times have changed! Yet, how universal the messages of "A Chorus Line" remain. And this film is a great documentary.