For the first time, Sight & Sound Theatres this weekend is broadcasting one of its shows live to a worldwide audience, and the story couldn’t be more timely.
Sight & Sound will stream its new musical Queen Esther on its new streaming platform, Sight-Sound.TV, live from Lancaster, Pa., Friday (Sept. 4) at 7 p.m. Eastern, with encore showings on Saturday (3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern) and Sunday (8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern).
The Broadway-style musical will spotlight the biblical story of Esther, the courageous Old Testament woman who saved her people, the Jews, by foiling an evil plan.
The broadcast will feature behind-the-scenes interviews and multiple camera angles. The show also includes the largest moving set piece Sight & Sound has ever built.
Sight & Sound – which was closed for much of the summer due to the pandemic – is requesting a minimum donation of $25.
Katie Miller, corporate communications manager for Sight & Sound Theatres, said the story has multiple parallels to today’s pandemic world.
“We have been saying this for months: If we would have sat down this summer and said, ‘Let's choose a Bible story and write a story that is really relevant for right now’ – I don't know that we could have chosen a story more applicable than Queen Esther,” Miller told Christian Headlines. “She was a person who not only had her entire life turned upside down in a moment, but then she found herself alone. She found herself faced with a future of complete uncertainty. She was surrounded by the chaos of palace life and all the political chaos that comes along with that.
“And yet in the middle of all of it, she found the strength and the courage to trust in the faithfulness of God and know that she was created and designed for such a time as this,” Miller said, referencing the well-known verse from Esther 4:14. “It's a story of social injustice. It's a story of fear and faith. The messages in this show are so timely for what we're all experiencing and have experienced throughout this year – no matter where you are in the world.”
Sight & Sound was expecting nearly 900,000 individuals to watch Queen Esther at its Lancaster location this year before the pandemic hit. It had to cancel more than 200 shows in Lancaster and 100-plus shows of Noah at its other location, Branson, Mo.
“We knew we had to get creative,” Miller said, referencing the streaming site and the live broadcast of Queen Esther.
Although the Lancaster and Branson sites are open again, they are working at reduced capacity due to social distancing. Queen Esther will be on stage throughout 2021 due to demand, while Branson next year will show Jesus, Miller said.
Visit Sight-Sound.TV for more information.
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.
