Since the painting of our final 114-foot wide backdrops is not something we can facilitate in-house, artist Dan Phyillaier traveled to Glens Falls, NY, to inspect the progress of the reproduction of one of the backdrops for Joseph. Working closely with the producers and after numerous concept variations, Dan painted a very detailed, scaled-down version of the backdrop. This was then supplied to the artists at one of the scenic painting studios that we employ to render a full-size reproduction.
Dan paints the initial backdrop for an Egyptian harbor scene using computer software that mimicks traditional painting
Dan and the scenic painters survey the progress on the full-size harbor backdrop
Max Films and Sight & Sound Theatres have teamed up once again to shoot video of our actors reenacting the “Sermon on the Mount”, another media component of Joseph. In this behind-the-scenes footage, you’ll hear Josh explaining the objectives of the shoot to the cast and crew.
Last week, a few members of our talented art & media team worked with Max Films to capture footage of actors in Egyptian costumes performing tasks that would have been common during the time period when Joseph lived. This footage will be used and manipulated to create a simulated tour of Egypt.
You are getting a very rare glimpse behind the scenes here!
A few of the Joseph sets were loaded onto the Millennium stage to look them over in the actual space. Below are pictures of a double-sided set used in Act II. The Prison Gate and Pharaoh’s Throne! The scene transition from the “pit to the palace” occurs live in full view of the audience!
This little creature is our newest member of the cast. Tut will
make his stage debut as the pet of the notorious Lady Potiphar. He is a
Sphinx cat and is currently undergoing training as one of our many
animal actors waiting to grace the Millennium stage in Joseph!
“As VIBRANT as Joseph’s colorful coat” is how I would describe the lighting design in Joseph!
Over 1,600 Conventional lights, 63 Moving Lights, 1,100 Dimmers, 2 lighting consoles and over 800,000 watts will be used to illuminate Joseph. Using a 3-D visualization software, Lighting Designer Joe Basinger and his team of 18 talented lighting specialists have been working on this showfor over 2 years. It will take 4 weeks to program the lighting cues and 800 man hours to focus the instruments. Joseph will have some of the most dynamic lighting opportunities than any other Sight & Sound show to date such as specialized water gobos to transform the entire theatre during a production number called, The Nile Dance. Special LED lights will be used for Joseph’s dream sequences including a star field that envelopes the entire audience! Lighting design will also incorporate fire effects, large scale scrim effects and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, which will continue the atmosphere beyond the stage and into the audience so that our guests will experience Joseph’s story like they’ve never imagined possible!
Josh Enck
Producer & Co-Writer
Joe Basinger uses 3-D visualization software to plan the lighting for Joseph
A lighting concept for the banquet scene in the show
Let’s start with The Coat of Many Colors! This was the first costume to be completed in preparation for promotional photographs. The design challenges for this particular garment were substantial. Joseph has to fly in it, fight in it, throw it down, it gets ripped off and torn into pieces by his brothers, dipped in fake blood and oh… withstand the countless cycles in our washing machine! As if this wasn’t challenging enough, everyone has their own take on what Joseph’s coat looks like! All of this and more were taken into serious consideration while designing and building Joseph’s colorful coat. If you would like a sneak peak, it is currently on display in our Millennium Theatre Lobby.
Our Costume Designers Lashonda Alderfer and Dan Deal took costumes to a whole new level with Sight & Sound’s largest, most colorful and interactive production number to date… The Nile Dance. This production number consists of over 40 Egyptian soldiers, elite guard, percussionists, horsemen, dozens of highly energetic Nile River dancers, a larger-than-life “puppetted” crocodile, puppetted fish and birds. An enchanting Egyptian ship riding atop of hundreds of yards of blue silk. We’ve never done anything quite like this before!
Research for the rest of the 425 costumes touched not only on ancient Egyptian dress and customs but also neighboring people groups including Ishmaelites, Sudanese, Libyans and Hittites. With a cast of 40 plus actors, our team of 26 full & part time seamstresses are likely to unroll, cut, fit and sew 3,000 yards of fabric, 13,000 yards of trim, over 7,000 snaps (which are sewn on by hand) and 140 wigs!
If you want a sneak peak at one of the huge Egyptian statues in the show Joseph, you’ll have to stop in the Millennium Theatre lobby in Strasburg, PA! We placed one of the four 30′ high statues right in the middle of the lobby to get people excited about our newest production. On the base of the statue are large, colorful prints displaying various scene designs of the show as well as the process behind the making of the statue. Visitors will also hear several tracks from the original score through speakers built right into the statue base. The statue will remain for the duration of In The Beginning, so stop in soon before he goes away!
We are doing things in this show we have never done before!
Some of the most thrilling aspects to the story of Joseph are the numerous dream sequences that occur. This has allowed the Sight & Sound team to go places with technology that we’ve never gone before. From the fun, telescoping sheave costumes to a brand new flying system that carries Joseph on a breath taking flight over the audience. We have also invested in enormous multimedia projections that take place on our 30 foot high Egyptian palace sets in order to powerfully depict Pharaoh’s dream of the seven years of plenty and famine. Just to mention a few!
Our desire is to transport the audience back in time, immerse them in Joseph’s world and put them in the heart of the action so that they can fully experience the life changing message of this show!
