{"id":305438,"date":"2026-07-25T11:51:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/305438\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T11:51:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:51:40","slug":"we-chose-to-go-to-the-moon-with-joy-woods-skylar-astin-claybourne-elder-more-will-premiere-on-pbs-in-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/305438\/","title":{"rendered":"We Chose to Go to the Moon, With Joy Woods, Skylar Astin, Claybourne Elder, More, Will Premiere on PBS in November"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Monsky’s\u00a0We Chose to Go to the Moon, which was filmed at Carnegie Hall\u00a0in April, will make its PBS premiere November 10 at 8 PM ET. The theatrical event, described as a “living documentary” about America’s space race, will also be available at\u00a0<\/a>PBS.org<\/a> and on the PBS app<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Created, written, and narrated by writer and historian Monsky and directed for the stage by Tony winner Michael Mayer<\/a> (Spring Awakening<\/a>, Chess<\/a>),
\n this immersive theatrical experience\u00a0includes vignettes and vocal performances by Skylar Astin<\/a> (Pitch Perfect, Spring Awakening), Grammy nominee Brent Comer<\/a> (The Outsiders<\/a>), Claybourne Elder<\/a> (Company<\/a>, The Gilded Age), Elizabeth Gillies<\/a> (Netflix\u2019s Dynasty), Tony nominee Taylor Louderman<\/a> (Mean Girls<\/a>), and Grammy and Tony nominee Joy Woods<\/a> (Gypsy<\/a>, Six). Neil Armstrong\u2019s son Mark Armstrong and granddaughter Kali Armstrong also perform a special tribute to the astronaut.<\/p>\n

The multimedia presentation, which combines, theatre, concert, and
\ndocumentary, tells the story of the space race of the 1950s and ’60s,
\nculminating in John F. Kennedy’s challenge in 1961 to land a man on the
\nmoon.<\/p>\n

The performance also\u00a0features the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, led by
\nconductor Ian Weinberger<\/a>, performing music from the era, including “Fly
\nMe to the Moon,” “Rocket Man,” “Space Oddity,” and “My Generation.” The
\nstory follows the various perspectives of astronauts, scientists, and\u00a0mathematicians.<\/p>\n

We Chose to Go to the Moon\u00a0was\u00a0presented by Carnegie Hall as part of its United in Sound: America at 250
\n festival. The piece was originally\u00a0produced by American History Unbound, Inc., with
\n the support of Kenneth C. Griffin in partnership with Griffin Catalyst.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\n are delighted to once again partner with American History Unbound and
\nRadicalMedia to bring audiences an immersive new way to experience one
\nof the defining achievements in American history, the race to put a man
\non the moon,\u201d said Zara Frankel, senior director of Programming and
\n Development at PBS, in a statement. \u201cWhile the Apollo 11 mission inspired the world to
\nlook to the stars, this \u2018living documentary\u2019 reminds us that history is
\nultimately shaped through individual lives. As we approach Veterans Day,
\n it\u2019s especially poignant to honor the service, courage, and dedication
\nof the veterans whose leadership helped to make one of humanity\u2019s
\ngreatest accomplishments possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen
\n future generations of Americans look back at the defining moments in
\nhistory, I believe the moon landing on July 20, 1969, will endure as one
\n of our most important achievements,\u201d added\u00a0Monsky. \u201cWe\u2019re
\nproud that this show airs timed to Veterans Day\u2014nearly all the Apollo
\nastronauts were veterans, and their legacy of service to our country is
\nimmeasurable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monsky’s historical symphonic works have includes The Vietnam War: At Home and Abroad, The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day, and American Heart in WWI: A Carnegie Hall Tribute.<\/p>\n

We Chose to Go to the Moon was filmed by and is also produced by\u00a0RadicalMedia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Monsky’s\u00a0We Chose to Go to the Moon, which was filmed at Carnegie Hall\u00a0in April, will make its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-305438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}