MUNSTER | A Michael Jackson fan since she was a teen, Schererville resident Tasha Scurlock grabbed what she said was the chance of a lifetime this week to perform live in one of the singer's best known works.
Scurlock, 34, will be one of nearly 500 dancers of all ages, sizes and dancing abilities to re-enact "Thriller" during a Friday memorial to Jackon at The Steel Yard stadium in Jackson's hometown of Gary.
Nearly 150 of the dancers rehearsed the number Tuesday at the Munster megachurch, the Family Christian Center, which organized the performance using many of its own church members as dancers.
Scurlock and the others practiced writhing on the ground and rising jerkily to their feet to play the ghouls that inhabit "Thriller," Jackson's 1983 14-minute play on the horror flick genre.
She'll dress in costume for the actual show, wearing a dress she plans to run over with her car a few times to achieve the look of a "Thriller" zombie.
The performance will come near the end of a free memorial service hosted by the city of Gary for Jackson at 6 p.m. Friday at the baseball stadium, where Jackson appeared during his last trip to Gary in 2003.
Family Christian Center dancers have been performing "Thriller" for several years as part of an annual outreach to new members, Pastor John Ponder said.
"We have close ties to Gary," said Ponder, who leads the church's Christian education efforts. Gary residents make up about one-third of the church congregation, he said.
"Our hearts are in this," Ponder said. "We believe (Jackson) was a saved man. In his life he served to encourage others in their careers.
"He comes out of Northwest Indiana, and that's something we need to celebrate."
About 75 percent of the 500 dancers are church members, with the rest coming from surrounding communities to join in the event, Pastor David Jordan Allen said.
The church also will supply 400 choir members to take part in the memorial's finale, a performance of "We Are the World."
"We're doing our part to help honors his memory," Ponder said.
