This Thursday evening will be a big night for the fine arts at Chadron State College with the next event in the Galaxy Series…renowned countertenor Terry Barber…and the opening of the school’s next theater production…the Vampire Cowboy Trilogy.

Barber will perform in the Memorial Hall Auditorium at 7:00 while the play will be upstairs in Memorial Hall in the Black Box Theater at 7:30. The play also runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm.

Terry Barber has performed around the world…offering what the Los Angeles Times calls “performances of great vitality and verve” of both performing classical and popular favorites. He’s also been a member of the multiple Grammy-winning ensemble Chanticleer, earning critical praise as “the jewel in Chanticleer’s crown.”

Vampire Cowboy Trilogy is part of the modern theater genre called “geek”…which incorporates a high level of physical action and comedy. Director Scott Cavin says it’s a fast-paced parody of westerns, detectives, superheroes, and the supernatural.

The entire production runs just 90 minutes with filmed scenes between vampires and cowboys shot around Dawes County leading into 3 short one-act plays.

The first is Jake Misco, Outerborough Detective…a paranormal ghost-hunting hard-boiled detective. That’s followed by The Adventures of Captain Justice and Lady Liberty, which Cavin compares to the old Saturday morning Batman and Superman serials with a touch of the 1960’s spy show The Avengers.

The final mini-play is Tina, Teenage Warrior Princess…which Cavin calls Xenia meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Glee.

Cavin says one of the biggest challenges facing any cast in a spoof or parody is to play it straight and he’s pleased his do just that, although he says they had trouble keeping straight faces at times in early rehearsals.

Again, Vampire Cowboy Trilogy runs tonight-Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2:00 in the Black Box Theater, while Terry Barber’s Galaxy Series concert is tonight at 7:00 in the Memorial Hall Auditorium.