With an estimated 3 million viewers having watched TBN’s Easter weekend broadcast of Sight & Sound’s JESUS stage production, the network is set for an encore.
TBN will broadcast JESUS Wednesday (May 13) at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, giving viewers another opportunity to watch the Broadway-like musical about Christ’s life. It was filmed in front of a live audience. The encore presentation comes two days before it releases on DVD and digital home video platforms (May 15).
“We’re thrilled to share this special encore television broadcast of JESUS on TBN,” said Sight & Sound Chief creative officer Josh Enck. “You may not be able to attend a theatrical event just yet, but audiences can still witness the greatest rescue story ever told as it comes to life on screen.”
JESUS follows the ministry of Christ – from the streets of Jerusalem, to the raging Sea of Galilee, to his death, resurrection and ascension.
Sight & Sound Theaters, with locations in Lancaster, Pa., and Branson, Mo., produces Bible-themed musicals with massive sets, special effects and live animals. Nearly 1.5 million audience members attend the live productions each year.
JESUS was originally scheduled to appear in theaters but was broadcast on TBN Easter weekend after cinemas around the country closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
An estimated 3 million people watched JESUS Easter weekend when combining both traditional broadcast and digital streaming.
The broadcast of JESUS follows the theatrical release of Noah (2019), Moses (2018) and Jonah (2017).
Sight & Sound Theatres was founded in the 1970s by Glenn and Shirley Eshelman.
“We often joke that he [Glenn] started out as a farmer who went from producing milk to producing live entertainment,” Katie Miller, corporate communications director for Sight & Sound, told Crosswalk in 2017. Miller is their granddaughter. “And it happened through the course of a series of tragedies where his family lost the family farm and he needed to make ends meet. And so he tapped into his creative abilities. … Eventually they found their niche in telling Bible stories, which has just grown tremendously.”
Related:
5 Things You Should Know about Sight & Sound’s MOSES
Photo courtesy: ©Sight & Sound
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
