Sight & Sound's 'Jonah' theater production to debut Friday on TBN
As social distancing and restrictions on large gatherings have brought theater productions to a halt, TBN has teamed up with Sight & Sound Theatres to bring the production “Jonah” into people's living rooms.
The theatrical production of the biblical account will make its world television debut on Friday at 8/7 p.m. Central time on TBN for one night only. Filmed in front of a live audience in its 2,000-seat theater at Sight & Sound’s studio in Pennsylvania, "Jonah" has been seen by more than 2 million people on stage both in the Lancaster and Branson, Missouri, theaters.
“Jonah” the production follows the “Old Testament prophet Jonah as he runs away from a special assignment God has given him. After a series of wild adventures involving a seaport called Joppa, a huge boat, and a terrible storm, Jonah finds himself in the belly of a giant fish. But that’s not the end. It’s here that God teaches Jonah how to receive grace and extend mercy — even to his archenemy, Nineveh,” the synopsis reads.
The original state-of-the-art production of “Jonah” can be seen on-demand through the TBN app, Aug. 21-23 only.
Sight & Sound Theatres also recently announced that it will present its first-ever live worldwide broadcast of "Queen Esther" after its stage production was canceled earlier this year due to lockdown orders in response to the novel coronavirus.
The live performance will be available to watch on Sight and Sound's new streaming platform sight-sound.tv on Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. ET along with other stage productions by Sight & Sound Theatres on Labor Day weekend.
Some 434 performances of "Queen Esther" had originally been scheduled for its nine-month run in the Pennsylvania theater before it was forced to halt the production after its premiere in March. The show had sold over 550,000 tickets but after Gov. Tom Wolf issued executive orders limiting indoor gatherings, the theater was forced to cancel its performances.
“This year has been incredibly challenging, but we continue to see the faithfulness of God each step of the way," Katie Miller, corporate communications manager of Sight & Sound, told CP earlier this month. "After canceling over 200 shows and knowing that hundreds of thousands of people would not be able to experience the powerful message of 'Queen Esther,' we knew we had to do something."