Jesus Live: A Remarkable Performance That Will Stay in Your Mind Forever
Recently, I attended Sight & Sound’s production of Jesus Live in Lancaster, PA. For more than 40 years, Sight & Sound Theaters have produced live entertainment with a purpose – bringing stories from the Bible to the stage.
I watched this production with some knowledge of the Bible, as a former practitioner of Christianity and a lay practitioner of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism for more than 31 years.
We see the streets of Jerusalem and the raging Sea of Galilee, as Jesus befriends outcasts and heals those who are suffering. He presents challenges to “social norms and confronts hypocrisy.” In the two-act production we experience Jesus (Jonathan Blair) who sets sail with fisherman and talks with religious scholars, touching and changing many lives along the way.
I enjoyed watching this bigger than life stage production, partly due to one of the largest LED screens ever used in a theatrical production. It is 113 feet wide, almost 30 feet tall and weighs 12 tons. It is made up of 1,242 individual 500 mm x 500 mm panels with almost 21 million pixels.
One of my favorite scenes is the story of the Prodigal Son. The younger son asks his father for his share of his inheritance, then goes off and is gone for many years. When he returns penniless, hungry and tired, his father rejoices and welcomes him, much to the distain of the older son. It is a reminder that there is always hope for reconciliation. Often our children think they know more than their parents and need to go out to spread their wings. Most parents welcome them back into the fold and help them to go forward.
Jesus Live features 368 costume designs for 882 costumes and 2,400 costume pieces. The seamstresses of Sight & Sound sewed 14,000 snaps by hand and used 7,644 yards of fabric (that’s 4.3 miles). The show features 288 wigs. Jesus Live includes live animals including horses, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, camels, alpacas and more! All the cast members are excellent singers, dances and actors. The 45 member cast including people from across the country and around the globe. I had the remarkable opportunity to interview many of them which you can see here:
I give Jesus Live 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18 as well as adults. This production is playing through January 5, 2019 so check it out. For details, visit https://www.sight-sound.com/ticketing/shows/title
Juanita Seon Leary, KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror
