Queen Esther at Sight & Sound Theatre in Branson

This fall, our family experienced Queen Esther at Sight & Sound Theatres in Branson (the show is offered through Dec. 2023 and will return in 2024!). 

Sight & Sound is a fifty-year-old ministry devoted to telling the stories of the Bible on stage, television, and film. Last winter, our family enjoyed the movie, I Heard the Bells (now available to stream or purchase on DVD).

Each show is professionally produced with detailed sets, costumes, beautiful music, and a cast of over fifty professional actors and actresses. The theatre began in Lancaster, PA, and added a Branson location fifteen years ago.

This year and next, Branson's location is showing Queen Esther.

Before the show, we were invited to take part in a special behind-the-scenes tour of the 2,000-seat theater where we learned about the production, saw the sets up close and personal, and even met cast members.

Father-son acting duo Andy and Duncan Brown, and Sight & Sound's Marketing Relations Manager, Kortney Neal, took us on a tour of the stage, which is even more magnificent up close.  Queen Esther is their newest and largest set to date, with over 11,000 square feet of set construction covering the stage. The palace is the single largest set piece ever built by Sight & Sound at approximately 70-feet wide, 41-feet deep, and 37-feet tall. Weighing over fifty tons, it also the heaviest set piece in the theater's history.

To pull off the Persian production, it takes a 100-person behind-the-scenes crew and 50 performers. The show premiered in Pennsylvania before moving to Branson, a process that took nine months and over fifty tractor-trailers. Because it is the mission of the Sight & Sound team to honor scripture and bring Biblical stories to life, they take their work very seriously, spending three years preparing scripts, music, sets, and costumes. The craftsmen are so dedicated to quality and detail that elements of the stage that the audience does not see (behind doors, and under tables) are still prepared as if they might be seen because every detail matters to this team. Once the script is presented to the actors, they begin the first day by reading the story straight from the Bible.

On our tour, we saw hand-painted sets, custom-made props (the lanterns were my personal favorite), and painted backdrops.  With each aspect of the four-story-tall stage moving, opening, and rising as the story is told it took a team of engineers and designers to create such an impressive setting. The 300-foot panoramic stage wraps around the audience so you truly feel that you are in the City of Susa. We also met the beloved animatronic elephant, Florence, who carries Queen Esther in her grand parade, and learned about the many live animals in the show including birds, miniature horses, camels, Afghan hounds, donkeys, and horses.

Sight & Sound is focused on families from the audience to the cast. We met Andy Brown and his son Duncan, both cast members, who shared their passion for acting and sharing Biblical stories. Duncan enjoys the schedule that allows him to continue to attend school and the family he's made at Sight & Sound. He said that his favorite part of working with Sight & Sound is to be with great people who feel like family. The team is so close-knit that he wanted to invite his favorite adult cast members to his birthday. There are many husband-wife and parent-child combinations in the cast and crew. Yet, while there are so many families involved, each one auditions for their part singing a solo and performing lines so they earn their spot on stage. With so many shows each week, it is a rotating cast so everyone has time off to rest and be with their own families. 

Music is an integral part of Sight & Sound shows and this one is no different. The score was recorded in Prague and is set on a track as the vocalists sing every performance live. To pull it off, the cast includes four actresses portraying Esther, four King Xerxes, etc.

We also had the opportunity to view some of the costumes. The costume team works tirelessly to outfit such a large cast with clothing, makeup, facial hair, and wigs. Because the cast is replicated with multiple actors playing each part, they ensure that each one is consistent from show to show. The costumes in this production include 350 designs, nearly 1,000 costumes, and over 3,000 individual costume pieces made with 24,000 yards of fabric (enough to wrap around the theater ninety times!). Esther has sixteen gowns and twenty different looks in the show. 

Esther's story emphasizes that the Lord's hand is in every detail. Queen Esther was written for audiences from ages 2-102 and is meant to be engaging and inspiring.

After our Behind the Scenes tour, we couldn't wait for the show!

Queen Esther is a truly captivating story of a brave Jewish girl who becomes the Queen of Persia. Following the story from the book of Esther in the Old Testament, we meet her crotchety, but wise, cousin Mordecai, the evil Haman, the distraught King Xerxes, and the citizens of Susa.

The show begins with King Xerxes demanding that his wife Vashti perform for him in front of his honored guests. When she refuses, she is banished and the King begins a quest for a new queen, taking all the young girls of Persia as candidates to be his bride. Esther, an orphan, is a Jewish girl growing up under the guardianship of her cousin Mordecai. Mordecai attempts to hide and protect Esther, but she is discovered and taken along with the other girls. Mordecai advises her to keep her Jewish heritage a secret.

Esther wins the King's heart with her beauty, kindness, and harp-playing and he chooses her as Queen. As the story unfolds, there is a conspiracy to murder the King, secrets are revealed, and Haman, the villain of the story, plots to have all the Jews killed. 

In Persia at this time, no one is to approach the King without an invitation, yet this is the only way Esther has any hope of saving her people. Through her bravery, God's mercy is displayed.

Throughout the story, the people struggle with the apparent hardships, trials, and struggles they face asking why the Lord is allowing these things and if He cares. Esther has to find the courage to trust God's plan knowing that she was made for such a time as this. 

This production is a beautiful depiction of the Biblical story with an outstanding professional cast, beautiful music, larger-than-life sets and special effects, and an amazing story to tell. Queen Esther is a must-see for families.

Each program includes facts and discussion questions, and we appreciated talking to our girls about what they learned from the story. All four enjoyed and recommend the show and they want to bring their friends from church to see it in the spring.