Who would have  imagined such an enduring piece of modern culture would arise  from middle-of-the- night conversations  in  a  dance  studio?  
A  CHORUS  LINE  isn't  just another hugely successful Broadway musical - it's an international phenomenon that has spanned four decades and reached audiences in 22 countries around the world.
Through 15 years of continuous performances from the 70s to 90s and a  revival beginning  last year, A Chorus Line has touched generations around the world with stories so poignant, they could only have come from the truth.
The documentary explores the incredible journey of A Chorus Line from ambitious idea to international phenomenon.
It  compares  and contrasts the original musical with the current revival and investigates the societies in which they've debuted, and why the themes are so timeless and universal.
Finally, it goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of the revival's audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the  performers.  
Thus  the  story  of  life  imitating  art  unfolds:   real-life life  dancers  struggle  through rounds of auditions to portray dancers struggling through rounds of auditions.  
The source material of A CHORUS LINE, those dead-of-night conversations, were recorded to audio tapes which have been locked away for decades.
Now filmmakers James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo have been granted unprecedented access.  
The fascinating stories of the original real-life 'gypsies' reveal the truths behind the genesis of the show.
Interviews, then and now, with the creative minds who shaped A Chorus Line and the cast who realised it, provide insight into behind the scenes events and the tumultuous world of Broadway. The original musical arose at a volatile time - in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate, as the hippy era declined, as movements in civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights were gaining voices across the world, and as the Cold War continued without end in sight.
A Chorus Line injected into this fractured landscape a saga of the underappreciated, the overlooked - the everyday individual who struggles in pursuit of fulfilment.
This story, displayed with all the musical and visual poetry the  best talents in the world had to offer, sparked a renewed interest in theater, new trends in fashion, and new inspiration for storytelling.
As  Every Little Step investigates the legacy of A Chorus Line, it  will  also  look  at  our  current  society,  which  has  so  enthusiastically received  the  revival.  
There are  certain  similarities  to  the era of  the original: we're in the wake of a controversial war, the specter of violence (in this case through terrorism) is constantly on the horizon, political corruption has  citizens across  the world calling for  leaders to step down, and movements for racial, religious, and sexual equality persist.  
Perhaps these factors explain A Chorus Line's continuing popularity,a desire  for  the  chorus of  clamoring  voices to be heard.
And  then  there's  the  arrival  of  an  altogether  different  invention:   the  internet.  
Blogs and sites like MySpace and YouTube allow new avenues  for expression and voyeurism.  
The virtual worlds of online gaming provide new  levels of escapism  and  role playing.
Perhaps  the  themes of A Chorus Line are more relevant than ever.   
Every Little Step's exploration taps  into  another  modern  phenomenon: Pop Idol, American Idol, Deatschland sucht den Superstar, Nouvelle Star, Latin American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Operacion Triunfo … the list goes on.
Countless  reality TV shows are watched by hundreds of millions worldwide. Who hasn't wanted to bask in the limelight, to dance and sing with incredible talent, to bare one's sould to adoring masses?
These reality TV fans will delight in Every Little Step. 
For  the  first  time  in  the  history of Broadway, outside camera crews were allowed into the extensive audition process.
This  exclusive  privilege  allowed  directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo to capture intimate and grueling behind-the-scenes moments - actors suffering emotional breakdowns, dancers executing the  most  exquisite  pirouettes  of  their  lives, and directors moved to tears by the delivery of a line they've heard a thousand times before.   
Footage  of  these  talented  artists  auditioning,  rehearsing,  and  performing,  combined with candid interviews, deeply involves audiences in their arduous journey.  
On screen, the performers reveal their backgrounds and dreams as they struggle to cope with Broadway's emotional rollercoaster.  
But ultimately, just as in the story of A Chorus Line, just as in life itself, only a few can prevail.
Out of the thousands of performers who audition, only 19 are chosen to open the revival on Broadway. Their lives are  interwoven with one of the world's greatest musicals, their hope and dreams  hanging in the balance.
This is their story, and the story of the phenomenon known as A Chorus Line.  

History
It was created more than three decades ago, and  it was seen on Broadway for 6,137 performances. Yet, A Chorus Line is no ordinary musical; as one of its songs tell us, it's a 'singular sensation'.
A look back at how  it all began may help explain why  the  show  continues to be such an electrifying experience for audiences.
In the beginning, there were the 'gypsies,' highly-skilled dancers who travel from musical to musical, chorus to chorus, to be found in the background behind the stars.  
One cold midnight--January 18th, 1974, 18 of these gypsies gathered in an empty exercise center in Manhattan. 
They were  joined by Michael Bennett, who was the most acclaimed choreographer of his time.  
But Bennett was first,  last, and always, a gypsy.  
Since his start as a dancer  in Broadway musicals  in the 1960s, Bennett had  long imagined a show about dancers, a tribute to those who rarely receive the acknowledgement they deserve for their passion and their talent.
For  the next 12 hours on  that early winter morning  in 1974, Bennett and his  fellow dancers talked about their lives, revealing an incredible amount of information about their persona; histories, their motivation to perform and their dreams.
The process of discovery revealed that the faceless chorus was composed of individuals with wit and abundant humanity, each with a special story to tell.
Bennett  taped  these  conversations  and collaborated  with  Nicholas  Dante  to  write  A Chorus Line.
His  long  time  associate  Bob  Avian helped choreograph  the show.  Multiple Grammy-and Oscar-winning composer Marvin  Hamlisch was  brought  on  to  fashion  the  score,  and  Ed Kleban contributed to the lyrics.
The  team began intense workshops with the cast before the script and songs were even finished. 
On  May  21,  1975,  the  opening  at  Joseph  Papp's  Public  Theatre was greeted with unanimous raves from the critics, and  it quickly became obvious  that  this show about Broadway itself was  inevitably  headed  there.
One months later A Chorus Line transferred to the Shubert Theatre, and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and nine Tony Awards.
Eventually  there would be  LA and national  companies, an international company that played in London, a bus-and-truck tour, productions in Australia, South Africa and Canada, and foreign-language versions in France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Singapore, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong.
By  it's closing on April 28, 1990, A Chorus Line had become the longest running Broadway show of its time,  grossed  over  $300 million  in the US alone, spawned a Hollywood film starring Michael Douglas, and helped drive a renewed interest in theatre.
After  a  16  year  hiatus,  the  curtains  opened  anew  on October  5th, 2006.
John  Breglio,  an  esteem edentertainment  lawyer and  long  time  friend of Michael Bennett's, was the driving  force as producer of the revival.
This time around, Bob Avian is in the director's seat, and original cast member Baayork Lee has provided a new vision for the choreography.  
The revival has been a smash hit on Broadway, and a nationwide tour followed.
Fans of  the original are given  the chance  to  revisit old  loves, and new generations are introduced to the characters that have touched and inspired millions.
The legacy of Michael Bennett and the gypsies, no longer forgotten, lives on…. 

James D. Stern (Director/Producer) 
James D. Stern has had a long history as a producer in both Hollywood and Broadway, winning a Drama Desk Award for the dance spectacular Stomp and a Tony Award in 2003 for the hit musical Hairspray. He was also producer on the smash Broadway revival of Mel Brooks' The Producers.
After serving as associate producer on  the  film adaptation of Paul Rudnick's play Jeffrey, Stern moved into film producing and directing, making his feature film debut with It's the Rage, starring Jeff Daniels, Gary Sinise and Giovanni Ribisi.
For Stern's company Endgame Entertainment, Stern and his partner Adam Del Deo co-directed and co-produced two documentaries, both of which premiered at  the Toronto  International Film Festival.
The Year  of  the  Yao  was  produced  in  conjunction  with  the  NBA, and focused on the 7-foot-6 Chinese phenomenon Yao Ming.
Last year Stern and Del Deo released So Goes the Nation, a documentary about the 2004 Presidential election in Ohio.
Through his company Endgame Entertainment, Stern has produced a wide variety of films, including the cult comedy Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Proof, Lord of War, Stay Alive,  I'm Not Here, and The Brothers Bloom.

Adam Del Deo (Director/Producer) 
Adam Del Deo is a producer of feature films and director of documentaries at Endgame Entertainment.
Most recently Del Deo produced Dan Myrick's (The Blair Witch Project) supernatural thriller Solstice and executive produced Stay Alive.
He served as co-Executive Producer on James D. Stern's  It's the Rage, Producer on Steven Brill's  Late Last Night, Executive in Charge of Production on Timothy Hutton's Digging to China, and President of Production for Scanbox Pictures USA.
On the documentary front, Del Deo and Stern co-produced and co-directed Every Little Step.

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