How It All Began
Each year, Sight & Sound Theatres welcomes nearly 1.5 million people from around the world to experience live performances that bring the Bible to life. In September, people everywhere will experience Sight & Sound’s MOSES on the big screen!
Sight & Sound began humbly. Founder Glenn Eshelman was so inspired by the beauty of the world around him that he began painting landscapes as a boy. He eventually bought a camera to take reference photos for his paintings. Photography quickly became his passion.
After marrying Shirley, Glenn sold his artwork out of his car. But in 1964, his sideshow became the main act. After presenting his scenic photography at a local church using a slide projector, a turntable for musical underscore, and a microphone for narration, the audience response was overwhelming. The first unofficial “Sight & Sound” show was a success!
By the mid-1970s, Glenn and Shirley were taking their multimedia presentations to audiences all around the United States. This popularity gave way to a permanent home for their productions, with the Living Waters Theatre opening for business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1976. Sight & Sound Theatres was officially born.
Over time, more live theatrical elements were added to the shows, and in 1987, their first complete, full-length Biblical production debuted: BEHOLD THE LAMB. In 1991, their Entertainment Centre theater opened to rave reviews. But no journey is without trials.
After a fire gutted the Entertainment Centre in 1997, the future seemed uncertain—but Glenn and Shirley would not give up on their vision. Just 18 months later, a new 2,000-seat state-of-the-art theater opened, featuring a massive, 300-foot panoramic stage that wrapped around the audience, with the ability to house sets four stories tall. The first show to take the stage was NOAH. Audiences gasped as they were immersed in a spectacular ark full of animals that surrounded them on three sides.
By the early 2000s, sell-out crowds sparked a new idea from Glenn and Shirley: what would it look like for Sight & Sound Theatres to expand? Their vision to open a second location was realized in 2008, when the nearly identical twin theater opened in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Branson, Missouri.
From the Big Stage to the Big Screen
In 2017, Sight and Sound took their JONAH show from the big stage to the big screen. Recorded in front of a live audience in Lancaster, JONAH was released as a special movie event all across the nation.
This year, on Thursday, September 13, and Saturday, September 15, MOSES will play in U.S. movie theaters. Set adrift as a baby and now wandering in the wilderness, Moses is one unlikely hero—until God calls him into action. From the Nile River to the Red Sea, journey with Moses as he leads God’s people on an amazing adventure toward the Promised Land.
Get ready to see this epic Bible story come to life on the big screen.
