Every Little Step

I just finished watching Every Little Step, a documentary that follows the casting process for the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, and I found it fascinating. I'd been waiting for this to come out of DVD for months now and it really didn't disappoint.

I've more or less fallen in love with the original cast album of the show over the past two or three months and I'm only sorry that I didn't discover it in time to see the revival's touring company last year when they performed in my neck of the woods.

Watching the documentary, I now have a new regret: that I didn't get to see this cast perform on Broadway! Is it too much to ask that Broadway plays and musicals be recorded and released on DVD for those of us poor souls who don't get to live anywhere near NYC? They did it quite well for the final Broadway performance of Rent, so I know it can be done. Why can't the mountain just come to Mohammad already?!

The biggest surprise of the whole documentary was Jason Tam, though truthfully it wasn't a surprise tonight, but rather several months ago when I saw the clip online. That was actually before the documentary was even released on DVD and before I ever listened to the music or even really knew what the show was about.

I've been watching Tam as Markko on One Life to Live for nearly two years now and while I've found him to be a likable young actor I can't say that he's ever impressed me on the show the way he did in his audition for the role of Paul. He was just astonishingly good and I had tears rolling down my face by the end, both while watching it online a few months back and again tonight on the DVD.

I was hardly the only one who was impressed, either, since he moved the casting people in exactly the same way. Bob Avian, the director, even commented that it was the first time in thirty years that he'd cried watching the scene where Paul talks about a pivotal moment with his parents.

If only I could have seen Jason playing Paul on Broadway! It also would have been nice if he'd been featured more in the film, since aside from the one shining moment that is really the emotional high point of the entire film, we don't see anything else about him at all. Maybe he just didn't want to participate in the documentary?

The movie actually focused mostly on the casting of the female parts, which was a bit disappointing, though not enough to seriously detract from my enjoyment. I just wish we could have seen them casting all the roles, but I suppose there were time constraints to consider.

I'd recommend Every Little Step to anyone who is interested in the workings of show business and/or musical theater. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the feature film version of A Chorus Line, which sadly is as close as I've come so far to seeing a production!

Rent is my favorite musical ever, but A Chorus Line has become a very close second. If I ever actually do manage to see a real production, I may even find that I can't choose between the two shows.