VIDEO: Music: 10, Lyric: 10: HAMILTON Parody Tells of A CHORUS LINE's Mitzi Hamilton

Michael Bennett's astonishing musical theatre creation, A CHORUS LINE, began its life one night when the innovative director/choreographer switched on a tape recorder and asked a gathering of Broadway dancers to talk about themselves.

The Marvin Hamlisch/Edward Kleban score, featuring songs about childhood trips to the ballet, hellish experiences in acting class and the inability to sing, was formed from the true-to-life tales that were shared.

It was a unique opportunity for audiences to see those usually billed in small letters and taking the first bows shining in their own spotlights and letting their stories be heard, but in what might be called a cruel twist, many of those who were there eventually saw material based on their lives given to others to perform.

The story of Val, the dancer who found sudden success after turning to body-enhancement surgery, was originally sung by Pamela Blair in the memorable "Dance: 10, Looks: 3," but the lyric was inspired by the experiences of Mitzi Hamilton, who eventually got to sing it herself in the original London company and as a Broadway replacement.

Her intimate connection with A CHORUS LINE has opened up opportunities for Hamilton to direct productions of the Pulitzer Prize winning musical worldwide, most recently at the Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Florida. As a parting tribute on the show's recent closing weekend, cast members Jake Weinstein, who played Frank (the guy in the headband who gets cut in the opening number) and Caley Crawford (Lois, who gets cut for dancing too much like a ballerina) conceived and produced a fitting tribute to their leader

Using the opening number from Lin-Manuel Miranda's new Broadway smash, HAMILTON (which, incidentally, premiered at The Public's Newman Theater, the birthplace of A CHORUS LINE), Weinstein fashioned a parody lyric to honor the original T&A dancer, and with cast-mates participating in this marvelous music video, the full story of Mitzi Hamilton is finally told.