There's more to the biblical story of Jonah than a whale.

The prophet Jonah, called by God to cast judgment on the sinful city of Nineveh, wants nothing to do with his divine command. Jonah flees the Lord. He finds himself on a wave-tossed ship and, later, in the belly of that famous leviathan.

It's a big tale, and it takes a big stage to bring it to life. Enter Sight & Sound Theatre, which opens its newest biblical spectacle, "Jonah,"on March 10.

Sight & Sound's last large-scale inspirational effort was "Joseph," which featured Egyptian palaces onstage and camels in the aisles. The theater has also staged a great flood in "Noah" and celebrated one woman's enduring faith in "Ruth." But "Jonah" just might swallow them all in size and scope.

How? Let's start with 250 costume designs, 550 total costumes, 250 wigs, 100 beards and mustaches, 4,000 snaps and 5,500 yards of fabric. So tabulates Josh Enck, the production's chief creative officer.

All this will clothe a cast of 48 actors, who will get to sing, dance and act on sets that include the gilded towers of Nineveh, a boat dock, an undersea realm with walls of coral and drifting illuminated jellyfish, a 30,000-pound, two-deck ship and, of course, that whale, all 37 feet of which will float over the heads of the audience once he's completed by Sight & Sound's busy army of carpenters and designers.

"It's a massive project that takes three years and hundreds of people" to put together said producer/director Dan Deal, whose job it is to coordinate it all.

"It's sustained energy. It's keeping everyone aware of what the heart and vision is," Deal said. "It's really like working on a sermon for three years."

Which, indeed, alludes to what "Jonah" is all about.

Yes, it's a big, special-effects-laden story. A glimpse inside just one of Sight & Sound's hangar-size workshops confirms as much, as does the spectacle of a ship that actually rocks during a climactic storm at sea. Moreover, the audience will literally be submerged beneath "waters" simulated by state-of-the-art software, and the sets will be steered by GPS technology.

But all of that is meant to enhance the message of "Jonah," not to overwhelm it. As Deal mentioned, "heart and vision" are the core of things.

Rodney Coe, one of the actors who will play the title character, said the show hinges on "Jonah's will versus God's will, and the journey [Jonah] has to go through to be broken down."

Indeed, the God of "Jonah" doesn't seem to give the reluctant prophet much of a break.

Jonah is tossed off a ship by terrified sailors, he does time in a sea creature's innards, and at one point he's given shade by God only to see his sheltering tree wither away.

Jonah is saddled with the task of saving the people of Nineveh, which wouldn't seem like too unreasonable a demand by God were it not for one small detail:

"His father has been killed by the people of Nineveh," Coe said.

Talk about having to love your enemies.

But that same heavenly father allows Jonah to become a mighty prophet, emboldened by his trials and tribulations, having learning the hard way how to forgive.

"Forgiveness," Coe said, "is messy."

"Jonah" opens March 10 and runs through Dec. 29 at Sight & Sound Theatre, 300 Hartman Bridge Road, just off Route 896 near Strasburg. For ticket information, call 800-377-1277 or visit sight-sound.com.