HANDS UP! The Billy Miner Experience Immersive audio-visual theatre at the Maple Ridge Museum

It was about 9:30 on a September evening in 1904. The fog was thick on the Fraser River. And, as the Canadian Pacific train rolled slowly towards Maple Ridge, the engineer felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hands up.” Gentle and polite, stagecoach and train robber Billy Miner was striking again. The train stopped. Panic broke out and the passengers were terrified! Miner and two men looted the express car. Gold dust, cash, and bond notes all gone! Then the trio vanished into the night, and into Canadian legend. 

A manhunt came up empty, but years later, Billy Miner and his gang struck again. In this innovative audio-visual experience custom-created by Sea to Sky Immersive for the Maple Ridge Museum, visitors will be surrounded by the sights, sound, and drama of Miner’s robbery, the manhunt, and trial that followed. 

Visitors to “Hands Up!” will begin their journey on an actual train car situated at the Museum, but filled with immersive technology, the voice of a kindly passenger, and some desperate train robbers armed with guns and dynamite. With choices to make and events to witness, each passenger must ask themselves “What would I do?” As their tour through the museum space continues, they will encounter the posse of Sgt. Wilson hot on the trail of the robbers. They’ll see the burgeoning historic town of Maple Ridge like never before, and then enter the Kamloops courtroom through a sea of howling newsboys, overly dramatic reporters, and townsfolk eager to lend their support to a genuine legend and folk hero. 

Sea to Sky Immersive is the team that produced the smash success “An Immersive Christmas Carol” at Roedde House Museum in Vancouver during the height of the pandemic. Premiering in Maple Ridge, “Hands Up!” is a fully audio-visual experience guaranteed to charm, startle, and entertain audiences. The experience has been designed and created by Sea to Sky Immersive creative director Joel Grinke, lighting designer Brad Trenaman, sound designer and composer Matt Grinke, and producer/writer Bill Allman. Projected footage, photographs, and illustrations work seamlessly with voices, original music, and world-class sound design and effects to bring every part of the Billy Miner story to life. 

Entries are timed so that individual groups are able to access the exhibit without overlapping. This dramatic experience showcases the Billy Miner legend and brings Maple Ridge’s history with the “gentleman bandit” to life! 
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Opening on September 10th, the 117th anniversary of Miner’s Maple Ridge robbery, HANDS UP! runs Fridays thru Sundays until September 26th. For tickets, volunteer opportunities, and more information, please visit www.mapleridgemuseum.org/handsup .