Kate Rockwell, Daniel Yearwood, and More Will Join Boston Pops Performances

Following sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Kennedy Center Opera House, historian John Monsky will make his Boston Pops debut with The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day on Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

In The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day, historian and writer John Monsky narrates the dramatic story of the final months of WWII in Europe through the words and images of Ernest Hemingway, Vogue-model-turned-photojournalist Lee Miller, daredevil war photographer Robert Capa, the heroic 761st Tank Battalion and a young intelligence officer who lands on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944 with a manuscript in his knapsack - later revealed as one of America’s greatest novelists. The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day fuses music, meticulously researched history, and rare film and photographs sourced from the National Archives. Flags that were carried onto the beaches and paved the way to victory further illuminate stories often lost to history.

Boston Pops’ Keith Lockhart will conduct the famed orchestra and will lead top Broadway vocalists Stephanie Jae Park (Hamilton), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company) and Daniel Yearwood (Hamilton, Sweeney Todd).

As Americans prepare to honor the 80th anniversary of this turning point in the Allies’ fight for freedom, Lockhart will lead the Boston Pops in a stirring mix of music that captures the essence of the times, featuring compositions from Aaron Copland, Glenn Miller, Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser and John Williams.

Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops, remarks, “I’m very excited to bring ‘The Eyes of the World’ to Boston for the first time this May. Over the past several months, we’ve worked closely with John Monsky and the American History Unbound team to make the musical program as powerful as the history that’s told through John’s narration and this unique form of storytelling. The Boston Pops performances will include more music than ever before, and I’m thrilled we’ll have four Broadway stars bring the history to life through songs from the era. I’m a history buff myself, and my brother is a history professor, so this show is one I’m especially proud to be able to offer during the week between Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of D-Day.”

Monsky adds, “Boston is where American history began, and it is only fitting that we honor this moment—the 80th anniversary of D-Day with this symphonic lecture —here. We will travel back in time to re-live the journeys of four remarkable figures and honor the bravery of those who fought for a small strip of beach and beyond. There is no one like Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops to transport us to this dramatic and pivotal in moment in history.”

In the production, Monsky guides the audience through the Battle of the Hedgerows, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, the horrors of the Hürtgen Forest, Germany’s spiderweb of concentration camps and Munich, through the letters, journal entries and photographs of his “eyes.” Along the way, as their journeys unfold in breathtaking fashion, they meet in the most unlikely of places and cross paths with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and Hemingway’s estranged wife, trailblazing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn.

The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day is produced by American History Unbound Inc. John Monsky is writer, creator, narrator and executive producer. Ian Weinberger, music director of Broadway’s Hamilton, serves as the music director and arranger. Peter Flynn directs. Meredith Wagner is executive producer. Alexander Diaz is producer/production manager. Eric Duran is media producer. Gene Graham and Randy Chaplin are producers; Reece dos Santos is assistant producer.

Watch the trailer below!

 

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