Gary middle school student who starred in Lion King, Jr. (l) and a centenarian were interviewed
Theatre and life captivates and excites in Lyrics 2020 Online
Contributed By:The 411 News
West Side Theatre Guild captured performances that would have been hard to re-imagine on a stage
For 2 hours and 17 minutes on Christmas Eve "this is the West Side Theatre Guild story" wove in and out of the premiere of Lyrics 2020 Online.
Lyrics, WSTG's annual end-of-year musical revue that has been staged over multiple nights for the last 20 years turned virtual because of the pandemic.
Performances that would have been hard to re-imagine on a stage, city neighborhoods as backdrops, reminiscences of past performances, and interviews were captivating and exciting.
How else, but virtually, could Mark Spencer, WSTG's director have captured stories from 3 centenarians? Their reflections on the Gary public schools turn out to be priceless. There are glimpses from Michael Jackson's kindergarten teacher, expressions from one who attended Froebel School in the 1930s and from one whose outlook on life was changed by his teacher.
How else, but virtually, could the intimacy of the ruins of City Methodist Church at 6th and Washington be brought to a stage?
Here we came to know some of the performers as people not just characters.
And we saw the people behind the scenes, at West Side Leadership Academy and in the Gary Community Schools Corporation.
What was missing were the people in the seats of West Side's auditorium, their calls and shouts to acknowledge and celebrate a family member or a friend on stage.
There are still many ways to catch the performance. To view LYRICS 2020 Online, click this link
The City of Gary has partnered with The West Side Theatre Guild and will provide over 6 hours of content daily during the week of December 23, 2020 - January 2, 2021 on their YouTube and Gary TV channel platforms.
The Gary TV channel is available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV.
For those who would like to watch the content via their streaming solutions, visit your channel store and search for “City of Gary.” Add the channel to your library and you will be ready to watch.
For all content from The West Side Theatre Guild, keep up with the “GCSC” page on Gary TV.
Lyrics 2020 can also be viewed on the Gary Community Schools Corp. and West Side Theatre Guild's Facebook pages.
Story Posted:12/26/2020
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