We received admission to Jonah at the Sight & Sound Theatres as part of #ExploreBranson, a promotional blogger tour of Branson, MO, through the US Family Guide. All experiences and opinions are my own.
A few weeks ago I was chatting with one of the ladies from our church. She mentioned that she and her husband had just returned home from Branson, MO, and had visited the Sight & Sound Theatres to see Jonah while they were there. She said the show was amazing and that she thought my kids and I would enjoy it. I was excited, then, when I saw that Jonah was on our itinerary for the #ExploreBranson blogger tour. I had visited Sight & Sound a few years ago for the show Noah and thought it was well done. I couldn’t wait to see how Jonah compared.
I was fairly certain that Mister and Sister would enjoy the show, but I was a bit apprehensive about how Little Miss would handle it.
Mister was certainly excited about it, especially since he just finished the Apologia Swimming Creatures course. I knew that when I saw Noah there were live animals in the show, and found this video about the animals in Jonah…
Sight & Sound Theatres’ shows, or epic adventures, are created to be enjoyed by guests of all ages and nearly one third of all patrons include a guest under the age of 18. Sight & Sound notes on their site that children age four and older can stay engaged in their productions from beginning to end. For those children who cannot, or who just need a break, they do offer a Family Room where parents can take their little ones. The Family Room has toys and books for the kids and a TV to watch the show (no other channels are available). I figured worst case scenario, Hubs and the oldest two could watch the show from our seats while Little Miss and I checked out the Family Room.
The producers of the show do request that photographs and videos not be taken after the start of the show, for the safety of the cast members and animals and for copyright protection. I was able to find some amazing photographs on their website to share with you.
As you can see, the live animals are used on stage and throughout the theatre. During various parts of the show, animals are brought onto stage from backstage as well as from the aisles. Sight & Sound Theatres animals live in on site buildings on the grounds of the theater the grounds at each theatre complex and also have an additional indoor facility for training. The Theatre is home to an array of animals, including Vietnamese potbellied pigs, Angora goats, Barbados sheep, baby doll sheep, Corriedale sheep, llamas, camels, Scottish Highlander cattle, Jersey cattle, donkeys, miniature donkeys, goats, horses, ponies, dogs (Saint Bernard and Welsh Corgi), Himalayan cats, skunks, macaws, rabbits, chickens of various breeds, doves, white pigeons, Peking ducks, geese, Crescent ducks, turkeys, alpacas and zebus. While you may not see all of the animals in one show, you sure see a lot of them!
The set of Jonah is simply beautiful. The fact that these colossal set pieces move about the stage, often seamlessly, is nothing short of amazing. They do use stage smoke to look like the waves of the sea. It is simply gorgeous.
The show Jonah is a combination of live acting and movie. The show begins with a cartoon of Jonah as a boy on the large screen. Live action begins with Jonah as a young man. After he is thrown overboard, a huge whale surfs the audience before Jonah is swallowed. Once he is swallowed, the big screen shows Jonah in the belly of the whale. Once the whale coughs him up, live acting resumes. The scenes are done well, although some creative liberties are taken to make the story fit the stage. It would be very difficult to get bored during this show!
During one of the underwater scenes, giant jellyfish descend from the ceiling. One happened to be directly overhead, which temporarily frightened my 5yo. Once she realized it wasn’t a live jelly fish, she was fine and couldn’t wait for the horses to return to stage.
I remember thinking that the show Noah would be difficult to top, as far as immersive experience shows go. Jonah blew it right out of the water!
We would definitely go see Jonah again, although I would want to make sure we aren’t directly under a jelly fish next time!
This looks like an exciting show! I like how it’s a mixture of both movie and live acting. I haven’t been to a show like this in years. I remember going as a little girl and being in complete awe of the actors and actresses. They really did a great job with the stage setup and props. Looks beautiful.
I’ve never been to this. I saw it on TLC before. It looks amazing!
Wow! What a production! I really need to put Branson on my “to visit” list!
What an exciting show! I would love to take it in if I ever make it that way.
Looks like a great show.I know my kids would love it with all the animals but i would not like to be sitting under the jellyfish lol.
i would think my family would love jonah too. what a cool theater experience!
I didn’t realize it was a combination of movie and live show. I had no idea! That’s a really cool idea, and I can see why kids would be totally drawn in.
I would love to see this. I love how interactive it is (except I would also be terrified of a jellyfish directly overhead!)
That looks like quite a production. I can see little ones being on sensory overload!
I had no idea they had shows like this in Branson. I grew up in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, so I think of them as having similar attractions, but Jonah sounds epic.
This is definitely a show I could get on board with. What a great family activity. Sorry to hear your peanut got scared by the jellyfish. Mine would probably get scared too.
Jonah is something I would love to take kiddo to! That looks like a inspirational and fun family experience.
I believe you that it’s gorgeous. It looks pretty amazing in the pictures.
As an aside, I was typing a paper for school and had the video playing in the corner. I inadvertently typed ‘shaggy dog’ on my academic work. Haha, probably not a good idea to always try to multi-task. 😉
What an exciting show that must have been. He looks like he is definitely having fun!
Mister and sister that is cute!! I be this was a very entertaining show so theatrical!!
I’ve never been. It sounds like a really great time and lots of fun!
My Mom would absolutely love this show! I’ll have to let her know for her next trip.
Wow! This show looks simply spectacular. It looks like everyone had an amazing time.
Looks like a fabulous thing to take the kiddos too. We are not to far from Branson. maybe like 5 hours. Would love to visit there again.
The set is gorgeous! That’s what always makes a production great, the quality of the set and the costumes! They take great care of everything you can tell.
I haven’t visited Branson in over 6 years. I would love to take my family.
I am going to have to make a trip to Branson. I had no idea there was so much to do there. This show looks wonderful. I am a big animal lover and I think it’s fabulous that they have them in the show as well.
That looks like an amazing show! I would love to make a trip there, sounds like good family fun!
This looks like such a great show! It sounds like there’s so much to do in Branson.
It is such an exciting show. I plan to see it next trip to Branson. I saw Noah and it was Fantastic. So glad you got to see this.
That combination of movie and live show sounds great. I bet my family would really enjoy this!
The set does look absolutely amazing! I would love to take my kiddos to the theater!
Wow! That looks like an amazing show! My kids would really love it! I’m sure the combo of the live show and the movie made for a cool experience.
OMGosh I can’t believe they use live animals, this looks like an amazing show! My kids would all love seeing this!
Wow, I love the theater set! Definitely looks like you guys had fun
That looks so neat. I bet you had a good time.
Oh my!! This is one show we must watch some time. The kids love Jonah so to see it being acted out with some amazing theatrics would be out of this world!
Looks like a great production! My son loves the animals and would be thoroughly entertained.
That sounds like such a cool experience! I bet you had a great time 🙂
This looks like a really neat show. Glad to see the kids liked it too!
I love how they trained the donkey to sit and the geese to follow a heard. Way cool! Btw, your kids look like they had a blast!