The stars align for student-staged space epic

The actors had minimal rehearsal time – their first run-through on stage was opening night, according to director Julia Jardine, also a senior. The sound effects were impossibly loud and the actors would occasionally have to duel with the projected videos that were supposed to be inter-spaceship communications to determine who would get their line off first.

But the end result was something special, foreign, and downright charming – as well as a “world’s first” moment. Missy said that while Red Hook is usually known for staging more classical performances, like “Peter Pan” and “West Side Story,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” has never been adapted for stage.”

The show did indeed fulfill its purpose. It set out to break the mold, not to rehash what’s been done a thousand times on the high school stage with a couple new stage directions thrown in to keep things spicy. There were laser battles and brain kidnappings and regular kidnappings (seriously, read the book). It was what theater is supposed to be: a playground for the imagination.

Student-run shows are becoming more popular in Red Hook, with a mission to pull together something special and imaginative, and to have a good time doing so.

Missy said that “Hitchhiker’s” was her first and only high school theater experience, and that it was “a great” one. “I can’t even properly explain how much it meant to me,” she added.

Mission accomplished then.

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