Sigourney Weaver Visited The Students Who Turned ‘Alien’ Into A High School Play

Back in March, a New Jersey high school went viral after students turned the horror/sci-fi classic Alien — the original, not any of the hit-and-miss sequels or Predator mash-ups — into their annual play. Even viewed merely over clips on Twitter, it was an incredible production, resourceful and creative — so much so that it earned hosannas from its star, Sigourney Weaver, and its director, Ridley Scott. Now Weaver has done them one better: On Friday she visited the school to deliver her adulations in person.

Rolling Stone caught tweets that showed video proof of the legendary actress — who earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for the series’ first sequel, James Cameron’s Aliens — strolling the halls of North Bergen High School, to freak-outs from the student body.

Weaver’s appearance wasn’t a random swing-by: Friday, April 26 just happened to be “Alien Day,” celebrating the 40th anniversary of the chiller that started them all. (Although the film wasn’t released in theaters until May 25, 1979.) North Bergen commemorated by staging an encore performance of their hit play, with an introduction from Ripley herself, who said she was stoked to finally see the production in full.

North Bergen’s mounting of Alien cost a mere $3,500 to produce, with sets made partly from scraps. (And keep in mind that Alien is a relatively theatrical film, with long scenes and a sparse cast of mostly alien chow.) North Bergen mayor Nick Sacco, who was in attendance, said the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts bestowed each cast member a“$1k scholarship to their summer program as well as each Senior with a $10k scholarship to the college.”

Now what high school is going to stage a production of Jaws? Back to the Future might translate to theater if one think way outside the box.

(Via Rolling Stone)