CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Every Little Step; Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet by Edward Humes; The Ballad of West Tenth Street by Marjorie Kernan; PBS's At Home in Utopia; Michael Feinstein.
Film
In the winter of 1974, choreographer Michael Bennett assembled a herd of dancers for a tape-recorded overnight getting-to-know-you session. The result ultimately became A Chorus Line—the fourthlongest- running musical in Broadway history (6,137 performances from 1975 to 1990) and the subject of Every Little Step, a new documentary about the show directed by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo. The film mixes excerpts from those first conversations and commentary from the originators with footage from the casting of the 2006 revival. It’s a riot of spectacular dancing and unforgettable numbers by composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Ed Kleban (“Dance: 10, Looks: 3,” “At the Ballet,” “One”) and choreographers Bennett and Bob Avian. The auditions and callbacks are intense, featuring a bevy of wannabe Bebes, Sheilas, Cassies, and Pauls. Choreographer Baayork Lee, who played the original Connie, is delightfully spirited—“Eat nails!” she insists, urging the dancers to dig deep. Opens April 17.—INGRID SKJONG
Founded in 2001 to help New York City recover from the trauma of 9/11, the Tribeca Film Festival (April 22–May 3) has grown into an indisputable cornerstone of the city’s cultural landscape. “There’s nothing like a new filmmaker receiving an overwhelming response from a film-hungry audience,” says Nancy Schafer, executive director of the festival, “and there’s no better filmgoing audience than New Yorkers.” The festival has found unique ways of presenting its product. The drive-in at World Financial Center Plaza, for example, always draws a crowd—last year 7,000 people flocked to one evening’s show; this year it pays homage to screenwriter William Goldman with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Going beyond film, the Artist Awards Exhibit showcases art (by the likes of Cindy Sherman, Clifford Ross, and Fritz Chestnut) that filmmakers receive as awards. “We were founded to heal the community,” says Schafer, “and now without the community we wouldn’t be here.” Visit tribecafilmfestival.org.—I.S.
Books
In Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet (Ecco/ HarperCollins), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes hits the mark with well-drawn profiles of eco-mavericks like Andy Frank, inventor of the plug-in hybrid car, and Doug Tompkins, the ultradriven founder of the North Face and Esprit, who came to the rescue of the rain forests after leaving his fashion empire. Also included: the founders of the Center for Biological Diversity, who got President Bush to acknowledge the reality of human-induced global warming, and the savior of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. Inspirational? Absolutely. And proof that real change really is doable. Available at bookstores citywide.—I.S.
A rocker’s widow, her preternaturally mature kids, a mysterious neighbor, a bum, and his cat—it sounds like the setup for a joke, but it’s actually a list of the protagonists of Marjorie Kernan’s charming debut novel, The Ballad of West Tenth Street (Harper Perennial). Years after the death of her husband, a megafamous British rock star, Sadie Hollander is hanging on to her life by some very tattered, though posh, threads. She drinks too much and can’t cook to save her soul, and her children, Deen and Hamish, basically parent themselves. But when a grandfatherly Southern type moves into the townhouse next door, the Hollander clan quickly learns how to embrace the kindness of strangers and finds that, sometimes, family is what you make it.—ANNE-MARIE GUARNIERI
TV
PBS’s Independent Lens series turns its focus northward to the Bronx this month in At Home in Utopia, a history of the United Workers Cooperative Colony (known affectionately as “the Coops”) from its scrappy beginning in 1926 to its eventual end in the mid-1950s. Started by Jewish garment workers, many of whom had strong Communist ties, the Coops—structures that could house 700 families—were built to provide an escape from the squalid conditions of the Lower East Side. From the 1930s, when it began housing black families, the colony also served as a model of racial equality. Though no longer a stronghold of social change, the Coops—where some descendants of the complex’s founders still live—remain a striking presence near Bronx Park, and have been the model for co-op housing throughout New York City. At Home in Utopia airs on PBS April 28. Check local listings for details.—A.M.G.
Music
Grammy-nominated singer Michael Feinstein is not of this era, and wouldn’t have it any other way. His work reflects a proud allegiance to the Great American Songbook; he can often be found performing those selections at his club, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency; and he recently recorded The Sinatra Project, an album filled with Ol’ Blue Eyes’ most romantic songs that’s Feinstein’s most “contemporary” work to date. Vocoder and drum machines, it ain’t. This month Feinstein brings his yesteryear sensibility to Carnegie Hall with Standard Time with Michael Feinstein, which is exactly what it sounds like. Expect selections from greats like Rodgers & Hart, Gershwin, and Berlin. Wednesday, April 22, at 7:30 P.M.; carnegiehall.org.—A.M.G.
