(NEW YORK CITY, NY) -- Fair Lawn, NJ, native Cornell Christianson's musical It Came From Beyond is currently running at St. Luke's Theatre in New York City.  The family friendly musical comedy described as Grease meets War of the Worlds with comic books, aliens, and 1950’s dancing. It is scheduled to run through July 24, 2018.

It Came From Beyond takes place in a high school science classroom in 1959 and switches between two parallel stories. It centers on the nerdy, high school geek whose only chance to save the popular, beautiful girl that he loves, is to find the secret hidden in a new comic book called It Came From Beyond. In the parallel story, an astronomer seeks the same secret in order to stop an attack on Planet Earth from aliens from outer space.

The show has licensed film clips from 1950s sci-fi movies such as Invaders From Mars, Brain From Planet Arous, Hideous Sun Demon, Devil Girl From Mars, The Flying Saucer, and Plan 9 From Outer Space.

It Came From Beyond is a comedy with characters that you can root for, a plot that will take you in, and unforgettable songs destined to be standards that will have the audience singing as they leave the theatre. It is suitable for all audiences and has a positive message.

The musical cast members include Ryan Ball, Kaitlyn Baldwin, David R. Doumeng, Maureen Duke, Clint Hromsco, Adam Kee, Natalie Michaels, Kayleen Seidl, Danicah Waldo, Bryan S. Walton

The production is produced by John Lant and Cornell Christianson and directed by Jim Blanchette. It Came From Beyond was written by Cornell Christianson; Composer/Lyricist: Stephen Michael Schwartz & Norman Evan Thalheimer. The play features choreography by Mark Blowers and Musical Direction by Austin Nuckols.

The St. Luke's Theatre is located at 308 West 46th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in New York City. Tickets are available online.

Cornell Christianson was a writer-producer at Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox where he produced the award-winning television series The Paper Chase starring John Houseman. His specialty is that he writes musicals with a unique structure of two parallel and interconnecting stories that go back and forth between two worlds. He has written a 1940s film noir musical, a 1950s sci-fi musical, a 1950s Marilyn Monroe musical and is writing a 1960s sword and sandal musical. His 1950s musical It Came From Beyond earned him two Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award nominations including Best Musical and Best Writing of a Musical. He has written its screenplay and two sequels which are being planned for a TV mini-series. His 1940s musical Wicked City Blues played in Salt Lake City and was named one of the Ten Best Plays of the Year in Utah. Critics called it “a snappy, sassy and thoroughly enjoyable send-up of the “film noir” mystery genre” and a production is being planned for Off Broadway. He has written a murder-mystery musical, Marilyn Exposed, which reveals the truth about Marilyn Monroe's death and is expected to open next year. He is a graduate of Fair Lawn High School, William & Mary College, and UCLA, a deacon of his church and an Eagle Scout.

Photos by Adam Smith, Jr.