A buoyant musical revue hits the stage of the West Side Theatre on Saturday.
Set for 7 p.m., “Lyrics 16: Takin’ It to the Streets” touches on contemporary events and topics through dance, song and the spoken word.
Checking in at about 90 minutes, the Gary production will be filmed for a television special for local Comcast stations, according to a news release from the West Side Theatre Guild.
The production’s choreography is being done by Gary’s Asia Dickens, who logged three years as a Luvabulls cheerleader for the NBA Chicago Bulls.
Dickens said those who attend Saturday’s “Lyrics 16” show will be treated to vibrant onstage movement.
“They should definitely expect to see lots of street jazz, contemporary and hip-hop,” said Dickens, who runs an after-school dance program in the Gary public school system.
“There are 26 kids in that program that will be opening the show,” Dickens said.
Dickens’ background includes some studying she did at a notable institution.
“I went to the Alvin Ailey school of dance in New York after I graduated high school,” she said.
That type of experience is being put to use Saturday at a musical revue with a cast featuring more than 100 students and community members who are ready to connect with the audience.
“It’s wonderful to be able to come together in large numbers to celebrate the arts, our great city and Northwest Indiana,” Mark Spencer, director of “Lyrics 16,” said.
The “Lyrics” series has been an energetic string of song-and-dance shows from Gary’s West Side Theatre Guild.
Providing a special performance at Saturday’s edition will be singer Kelly Price, an artist with multiple Grammy Award nominations.
Her 1998 album “Soul of a Woman” went double-platinum, notching 2 million in sales.
In 2000, Price scored with her platinum-plus “Mirror Mirror,” which spawned the Grammy-nominated rhythm-and-blues song “As We Lay.”
Six years later, she hit the top of Billboard’s gospel chart with the album “This is Who I Am.”
Another luminary on hand at Saturday’s show will be Val Warner, co-host of the weekday-morning talk show “Windy City LIVE,” which airs on ABC-Channel 7, Chicago.
Also in a TV vein, an appearance will be made by Chicago actor Jerod Haynes, who guest starred as Reg on “Empire” — the smash series on the Fox network.
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Haynes also showed off his talent in “Crisis,” a 2014 NBC series that starred Gillian Anderson, who gained fame in “The X-Files.”
If you go
What: “Lyrics 16: Takin’ It to the Streets”
Where: West Side Theatre at West Side Leadership Academy, 900 Gerry St., Gary
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door; available at Billco’s Barber Shop, 2448 Broadway, Gary, and Big Daddy’s Barbeque, 4213 Cleveland St., Gary; tickets are $10 in advance with school ID at Billco’s Barbershop and Big Daddy’s Barbeque — offer applies to students and staff at all schools
Special note: Tickets also available at http://www.eventbrite.com; more details, 977-2198, Ext. 11