Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Sight & Sound Theatre opening ahead of schedule

“Noah The Musical” premieres May 24, nearly a month earlier than the theater’s original opening date, Sight & Sound founder Glenn Eshelman said March 6 during a sneak-peek tour of construction progress. The massive $42 million theater is nearing completion at 1001 Shepherd of the Hills Expressway.

Eshelman, whose Good Shepherds Meadows LLC theater company is based in Pennsylvania, was on hand for a walk-through of the 339,000-square-foot, 2,100-seat Byzantine-style complex. According to Sight & Sound General Manager Tom Fish, the theater just needs exterior landscaping and miscellaneous work including interior trim and fixtures.

Little Rock, Ark.-based CDI Contractors is the general contractor, and Springfield-based Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. is project architect. Good Shepherds Meadows hired local engineers Anderson Engineering Inc. and Malone Finkle Eckhardt and Collins Inc., while Lancaster, Penn.-based Providence Engineering is the structural engineer. Other local contractors on the job are SKC Electric and Gold Mechanical.

Eshelman and his wife, Shirley, also own and operate two other Sight & Sound theaters, Millenium Theatre and The Living Waters Theatre, both located in Strasburg, Pa. Eshelman said “Noah,” his company’s signature show based on the Biblical story, debuted in 1995 and has played to 2.4 million people.

Ready, set, go

The immense 26,550-square-foot staging area surrounds the audience on three sides. It currently displays the 11 interior set pieces of Noah’s Ark.

Ernest Stauffer, the theater’s director of show operations, said each individual piece measures about 40 feet high and, together, the sets will hold about 300 live and animatronic, or modeled, animals and other ark artifacts. The 42-foot ark is placed center stage.

Stauffer said most of the sets are stored in Pennsylvania and shipped in pieces to be rebuilt in Branson.

“We will premiere all the shows in Strasburg to make sure they work before we show them here,” he said. “It’s easier to ship everything.”

The Branson property also includes a 30,000 square-foot warehouse, scene and woodworking shop, fiberglass shop and maintenance area for the sets.

Costumes to clothe the 45 “Noah” cast members also are shipped from Strasburg, said Lynelle Trigalet, who heads up the theater’s costume design and construction.

“We build things bigger and bring them down to size (to fit cast members),” Trigalet explained.

Most costumes are made in Strasburg, but some are constructed in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. Trigalet said the theater company’s inventory comprises more than 250 costumes.

While sets and costumes will be shipped back and forth across the country, the livestock will reside, for the most part, at the Branson theater, said David Kammerer, animal husbandry supervisor. Animal corrals and a training arena have been built within the theater to house 50 birds and 25 animals – everything from camels to llamas to potbellied pigs. Kammerer said that animals not used in a production roam in a pasture adjacent to the theater.

Eshelman, who is an artist and pastor, said his inspiration to produce Bible story-based performances is from his storyteller father. The biblical productions, which include “Daniel” and “Miracle of Christmas,” according to www.sight-sound.com, will rotate between his theaters in Branson and Strasburg, which are visited by about 800,000 patrons annually.

Although Eshelman admitted that building a multimillion theater in Branson has taken faith, he said, “I’m not sure this is any harder than borrowing $100,000 for the first theater.”[[In-content Ad]]