We Chose To Go to the Moon
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 1 AM
Sunday, Nov. 15, at 4 PM
WE CHOSE TO GO TO THE MOON is a new “living documentary” about America’s space race. Blending live music and storytelling in a vivid on-stage experience, this special theatrical event is created, written and narrated by writer and historian John Monsky. The special also features an introduction by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard. Directed for the stage by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Chess), this immersive theatrical experience tells the dramatic tale of America’s race to space and decision to land a man on the Moon in one of the most ambitious scientific and exploration achievements in history. Bringing together a 45-piece orchestra and band – including a rare theremin – along with Broadway vocalists, breathtaking photographs, and narrative drama, the production creates an emotional history unlike any previous telling of mankind’s journey to the Moon. The program also features flags that have traveled to the Moon and back and have
witnessed some of our nation’s most emotional and patriotic moments, making history themselves.
Filmed at New York’s Carnegie Hall in April 2026 against the backdrop of the Artemis II mission around the Moon, WE CHOSE TO GO TO THE MOON includes vignettes and vocal performances by stage and film star Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, Spring Awakening), Grammy Award nominee Brent Comer (The Outsiders), Claybourne Elder (Company, “The Gilded Age”), TV star Elizabeth Gillies (Netflix’s “Dynasty”), Tony Award nominee Taylor Louderman (Mean Girls), and Grammy and Tony Award-nominee Joy Woods (Gypsy, Six). Neil Armstrong’s son Mark Armstrong and granddaughter Kali Armstrong also perform a moving special tribute to the astronaut.
