With the 30th Anniversary Season of “NOAH—Live!” nearly sold out in Lancaster, PA, Sight & Sound is partnering with Fathom Entertainment to bring its flagship production to movie theatres nationwide for a special one-week theatrical engagement, with “Sight & Sound Presents: “NOAH—Live!”
Recorded in front of a live audience on Sight & Sound®’s Lancaster, PA, stage, “NOAH—Live!” is a new “NOAH—Live!” production and takes audiences on board one of the world’s best-known voyages. With a catastrophic storm on its way, Noah is given a monumental task: build a boat big enough to save his family from a flood that will cover the entire earth. But as Noah endeavors to live faithfully in the midst of an increasingly chaotic world, can he trust that God’s promises run deeper than the rising waters around him?
The oldest grandchild of Sight & Sound® ‘s founders, Katie Miller first stepped onto the stage when she was four years old, making her the first member of the family’s third generation to be a part of the ministry. Throughout her 35-year tenure, Katie has served in various capacities within the company, including human resources, marketing, and business development.
As Director of Brand Development, Katie spearheads Sight & Sound®’s growth initiatives and brings alignment to each of the brand’s extensions through strategic partnerships, marketing, communications, and creative development. She also serves as primary spokesperson for the ministry, including on-camera host for all live broadcast events. Katie is passionate about connecting Sight & Sound®’s past to its future, introducing audience members from around the world to the Sight & Sound® story.
BuddyHollywood’s Paula K Parker recently had the opportunity to talk with Katie about bringing the powerful theatrical production of “NOAH—Live!” to the big screen, and what she hopes audiences will take away from this experience.
PAULA K PARKER: Thank you for taking time to talk with me about Sight & Sound®’s production of “NOAH—Live!” This is a project that I can sort of relate to, as my husband and I have theater backgrounds and introduced our children to theater life when they were young. We laughed when we told people our five children—who were seven to eleven-years-old—knew what stage right and stage left were.
KATIE MILLER: (laughs) That’s awesome. Your kids probably knew what stage right was before I did. My family did not have a theater background and did not know it was called stage left and stage right. There was a little ice cream shop on one side and then a town on the other side. We used to call it the “ice cream side” or “the town side.”
When we brought some theater people in, they asked, “What are you guys doing?” and explained stage right and stage left. It made a lot more sense, and we used it going forward.
PKP: What a fantastic story. What was behind the whole concept of you and the others with Sight & Sound® going from epic stage performances to the big screen?
KATIE MILLER: Over the last several years, we’ve continued to feel the Lord call us forward to take the message beyond our four walls. We’re very grateful to be having an amazing year. This year were nearly sold out for the entire year.
PKP: Wow! That’s amazing!
KATIE MILLER: It is! This is the 30th anniversary season of “NOAH—Live!” and we felt like we could not let this season come to a close without taking this wonderful show—that so many people have cherished for so many years—out to a broader audience and make it more accessible for people, no matter where they are. We cannot wait for this very special extraordinary story to hit movie theaters nationwide.
PKP: So what is the process of writing a Bible story, first for the stage and then tweak it for the screen?
KATIE MILLER: Our shows take about four years from the time we choose a Bible story, all the way through branding designing, building, rehearsals, and hitting the stage.
(Once we’ve selected the show), then conversations begin. ‘Okay, how are we going to capture this, so that audiences—no matter how they’re experiencing it—feel like they’re not missing a moment of the action?’
One of my favorite things about capturing these shows for the movies is the opportunity we have to help audiences see aspects that they would not normally see if they’re watching it live here in person. Our theater seats 2000 people with a 300-foot wraparound stage. We have twenty cameras on stage, flying through the air or hidden in set pieces. People in movie theaters will get to see aspects and angles and up-close moments of the show that you do not always see when you’re here in person.
PKP: I can’t imagine being in that massive room with all those animals.
KATIE MILLER: Yeah, it’s so fun. And there’s over 100 live animals and 100 animatronic animals. So when Act Two starts, you are surrounded by all these animals in the Ark. In my opinion, it is one of the most spectacular moments of any show we’ve ever done, and it still holds true all these years later.
PKP: What are you hoping theater audiences will get from this special screening?
KATIE MILLER: The thing we hope shines brightest from the stage is the message of the show, watching Noah’s life and story unfold in such a personal way. There are lots of times when we look at Bible stories, and take these Bible characters, and put them on these big pedestals. We forget they were people just like us who faced hard times. In these moments of despair, there are moments of beautiful faith in the Lord.
It’s such an interesting journey from start to finish. With all the cameras, the special effects, the songs, the music, the costumes—all of it—we really all come together to tell that story of a man being faithful to God and God being faithful to him and his family as they obeyed and followed Him. Just like God was faithful to Noah, He’s faithful to us today.
PKP: Seeing these Bible characters come to life, I’m sure people in the audience will say, “Oh yeah, that’s me. I would do that. I thought that. I’ve felt that way.”
But imagine having God come up to Noah and say, “Okay, I want you and your sons to build this Ark that is the size of a football field. Then get it ready because it’s going to rain and it’s going to flood.”
For me that is where I would just have to trust God.
KATIE MILLER: You’re right. I was just sitting in the back of the theater right before this call, and one thing that blows my mind every time I watch the show was that biblical scholars believe that—from the time Noah heard from God until he finished building the Ark—it was about 100 years. There is no record of God speaking to Noah again, and so it was Noah’s stubborn faithfulness, through all of it. It’s astounding to me and something that inspires me every single time I watch the show.
PKP: I agree. I imagine there were people in the community asking Noah, “What are you doing and why are you doing this?” And all Noah had to say was, “Well, I heard from God.”
KATIE MILLER: Exactly.
PKP: What is your hope for audiences who see your productions, whether live stage productions or on the big screen?
KATIE MILLER: I think our hope for everyone who experiences a Sight & Sound® show is that when they leave, they know the same God Who was present in the characters’ lives in the Bible story they just experienced, is present for them too. There are times when we face uncertainty, yet we can put our hope in a faithful and certain God. That is the message we always hope our audiences will carry with them when they leave a Sight & Sound® experience.
We are so excited for this opportunity for people to come together and share an experience. We’re passionate about families, churches, groups, youth groups, communities, neighborhoods, all having the opportunity to experience the story of faith together, because there’s something really powerful when you do that and are able to have the conversations later.
My favorite stories are when we hear from parents who say, “You know, we had this (Sight & Sound®) experience, then we went home, and—for the first time in a long time—we sat down and read the Bible together.”
That’s what our hope is; that the experience lasts far beyond the stage or the movie theater. That it’s something people can take with them, no matter what’s happening and unfolding in their lives.
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