West Side Theatre Guild’s annual ‘Lyrics’ show has gospel theme

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Updated: December 26, 2011 8:39AM

The West Side Theatre Guild will present its annual “Lyrics” holiday show at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3, at West Side Leadership Academy, 900 Gerry St., Gary.

This year’s theme is “Lyrics: A Gospel Experience,” and it promises to bring the audience to its feet, praising and shouting with local singers and choirs.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. They are available at the guild’s box office, Door J, at West Side from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To reserve tickets or for more information, call 977-2198.

The Dec. 3 concert will be taped for future airing on local cable television. West Side Theatre Guild Director Mark Spencer encourages guild supporters and gospel fans to come out both nights.

For the second time, I am preparing for a book release, which again is very exciting and nerve-wracking, but in good ways.

“Alethea Pascascio and Lisa DeNeal Present: The Panthers’ Club” has a Dec. 11 release date on amazon.com.

“The Panthers’ Club” is not based on true events, nor is it about Roosevelt High School.

It is a fictional novel about four African-American women ages 40 to 53 who take chances having relationships with younger men.

The title comes from my friend and co-author overhearing a conversation at a party more than a year ago in which an older woman said she was not a cougar, but a “panther” when it comes to men.

I hope you will support “The Panthers’ Club” the way you supported the memoir “Unflappable” from 2008.

I’m sure you watch reality shows and all the zany plots. One of the most popular involves children in beauty pageants featuring overly made-up kids and crazed parents.

However, while attending a monthly meeting for the Greater Gary Arts Council, I watched members of a local family of a pageant participant, and they could give those reality-show casts some pointers.

The Sims family — including grandparents the Rev. Charles Sims of St. Philip Lutheran Church and his wife, Wilma, son Jermaine, and a host of other relatives — supports two younger Sims, granddaughters Jazmin and Jamie.

The Sims Sisters — their moniker — performed two praise acts, then the rest of their routine centered on Jamie, 10.

Jamie has been in many pageants and is the 2011 Social Butterfly National Pageant winner. She performed excerpts from her routines, and some of the trophies she’s won were displayed for those attending the meeting.

To see more, visit www.jrmsgi.vpweb.com.

The Sims family members should be commended for their support and love in encouraging Jazmin, Jamie and the other grandchildren to dream big.