ASHTABULA — You don’t have much time before zombies invade Ashtabula.

At 8 tonight, “Zombies from the Beyond” opens on the G.B. Community Theatre stage.

Based on the low-budget, sci-fi movies of the 1950's, “Zombies” opened off-Broadway in 1995 to almost unanimous praise from the New York critics.

The New York Daily News said it was “Hilarious! Superb! Marvelous! A dizzy musical above and beyond the call of hilarity.” And David Sheward of BackStage said, “This is a scream, hoot and holler from A to Z.”

In the story, Cold War and space race paranoia are already threatening the good folks at the fictional Milwaukee Space Center in 1955 when the singing ‘Zombina’ lands in a flying saucer with plans to enslave all the men of Earth. Can Milwaukee ever be saved from the red menace and a flying saucer invasion?

Think of old flicks such as “They Came From Beyond Space,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Teenagers from Outer Space” and add songs, dance and plenty of laughs and what you get is a show which is a campy celebration of the American ideals and foibles of the Eisenhower era.

Written by James Valcq (who also wrote “The Spitfire Grill” with Fred Alley), the “Zombies” score includes the title song which translates the look and feel of “Night of the Living Dead” into musical comedy.

There are flirtatious songs in the style of Perry Como and some play on 50's pop as

well. Through the lens of varying cultural references, the piece spoofs not just cheap sci-fi movies, but also the era that spawned them.

Directed by Clay Nielsen of Madison, performances will be held today through Sunday and Oct. 10, 11, 12, 17 and 18. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m.

Tickets are on sale by calling the arts center at (440) 964-3396. Patron seating $12, adults $10, seniors $9 and students/children $8.

Dinner will be available prior to the show on Oct. 11. Reservations and pre-payment are required for all dinners and can be made by calling the arts center. Cost of dinner is $16 plus the price of theater ticket.

Dinner seating will begin at 6:30 p.m. Call for more information.