Stepping Out

Stepping Out is a 1991 American musical comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert, written by Richard Harris, based on a play also written by Harris, and starring Liza Minnelli. Most of the actors are Broadway-level actors and performers, several of whom have won Tony Awards, specifically Minnelli, Krakowski, Martin, Irwin and Greene . Winters and Minnelli are Academy Award winners. Woods was the only member of the Broadway cast to appear in the film. A "has-been" Broadway performer moves to Buffalo and starts teaching tap dance lessons to a group of misfits who, through their dance classes, bond... and realize what they can achieve. Their newfound self-confidence changes their lives forever. In order to appeal to a broader audience, and to justify the hiring of headliner Minnelli, the setting of the play was transferred from a gritty North London suburb to gritty Buffalo, New York. Mavis' back story was expanded to allow her a chance to sing more; in the play she has a role equal to those of the students. The students' personalities are generally the same on stage and screen, although minor plot strands have been omitted.
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