THE EYES OF THE WORLD: D-DAY TO VE DAY is Coming to Miami’s New World Center

The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day is coming to Miami’s New World Center on Saturday, May 10, for a special one-night-only performance. In addition to the live performance inside the New World Center, The Eyes of the World will also be presented as one of NWC’s signature WALLCAST Concerts in SoundScape Park, where audiences can experience the event live outdoors through the striking visual and audio technology of the NWC’s soaring 7,000-square-foot projection wall.
 
The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day recreates the harrowing final 11 months of World War II in Europe, from the beaches of Normandy and the liberation of Paris to the fall of Berlin, through music, imagery from the National Archives and narration from acclaimed historian John Monsky. Accompanied by four Broadway stars and New York City’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s, this innovative and immersive production brings the WWII era to life through warriors and journalists – both known and unknown – who experienced the drama, heartbreak and triumph of the War. Rarely-seen historic flags that were carried onto the beaches of Normandy and paved the way to victory further illuminate stories often lost to history.
 
The program also highlights the vital role Miami played in the war effort – a city where more than half a million servicemen trained for combat and where luxury hotels were transformed into military barracks – as we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.
 
Using the words and images of Ernest Hemingway, Life magazine daredevil war photographer Robert Capa, Vogue model-turned-photojournalist Lee Miller and a young soldier named Jerry, who landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, Monsky leads audiences through the events that brought these figures face to face with the action. Their paths intersect as they report on the War, trying to stay alive in their search for the truth. And maybe, even save the world. 
 
Along the way, they cross paths with Hemingway’s estranged wife, war correspondent journalist Martha Gellhorn; General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Pablo Picasso; Marlene Dietrich; the heroic 761st Tank Battalion (“The Black Panthers”); and the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion, among others.
 
Joining Monsky on stage are Broadway stars Shereen Ahmed (My Fair Lady), John Clay III (Choir Boy), Hayley Podschun (Wicked) and Nicholas Rodriguez (Company). Ian Weinberger, music director of Hamilton on Broadway, is music supervisor, arranger and conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke’s with period music from Edith Piaf, Irving Berlin, Aaron Copland and more. 
 
The program, which sold out premier venues including Boston’s Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, comes to Miami thanks to the generous support of Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin and his civic engagement initiative Griffin Catalyst. With the aim of “Catalyzing American Achievement,” one of Griffin Catalyst’s six priority areas is Freedom & Democracy, core ideas enshrined in John Monsky’s creative work at American History Unbound.