      The Chadron State College Theatre Department opens its 22-23 season tonight in the Memorial Hall Auditorium with the musical The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes.
Curtain times are 7:00 tonight through Sat night and 2:00 on Sunday.Â
     Cast members Levi O’Dell and Halle Smith say the show tells the story of Howard Barnes. a perfectly average man in his early 30s who wakes up one day to find his life is now a musical.
Barnes is desperate to escape from it and embarks on a fantastical quest through the realm of musical theater.
      That’s a reaction that’s a bit alien to O’Dell and Smith, who both love musicals – both to watch and to be in. O’Dell, a theater major who hopes to have an acting career, says musical pose very different challenges than straight plays – especially dramas.
Jeremiah Downes, a new CSC faculty member and both the director and musical director of The Noteworthy Life, says it’s equal parts satire, romantic comedy, and love letter to the American musical.Â
It’s also similar to Something Rotten, one of the past summer’s musicals at the Fort Robinson Post Playhouse, in that it’s intended for people who love musical theater and their friends who hate it.
Halle Smith agrees, saying there’s a lot of humor for everyone, but also a lot of inside jokes and references to musical theater
Tickets for The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes are free, but seat reservations are recommended so that the audience members have a chance to pick the seats they want in advance. Simply go online to theatretix@csc.edu.