WE CHOSE TO GO TO THE MOON is Coming to New World Center in Miami

American History Unbound's “We Chose to Go to the Moon,” a multimedia production that brings the story of America’s race to the moon to life through live music, archival footage, historic artifacts, and storytelling, will be performed at New World Center in Miami on Saturday, April 25. A free public viewing of the live performance will be projected on a grand outdoor scale at SoundScape Park through the New World Symphony’s WALLCAST, allowing South Florida audiences to experience the production in a shared, open-air setting.

“We Chose to Go to the Moon” touches down in Miami after a sold-out limited engagement at Carnegie Hall on April 7 and 8. 

Created and narrated by writer and historian John Monsky as part of his acclaimed American History Unbound series, “We Chose to Go to the Moon” explores one of the most ambitious scientific and exploration achievements in American history—from the earliest days of the Mercury Program through the triumph of The Apollo 11 Moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in July 1969.

Presented by Griffin Catalyst in partnership with American History Unbound, the production is an immersive, large-scale experience combining live performance with rare archival footage, historic flags, and imagery drawn from NASA, the National Archives, and other sources. The show follows Griffin Catalyst’s presentation at the New World Center in May 2025 of “The Eyes of the World: D-Day to VE Day,” writer and historian John Monsky’s story of the climactic closing year of World War II and Miami’s role in it.

This year’s performance, of a story with meaningful roots in Florida’s Space Coast, is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening,” “Chess”) with music arranged by Ian Weinberger (“Hamilton”), featuring an acclaimed cast of stage and screen actors and vocalists, including Skylar Astin, Brent Comer, Claybourne Elder, Elizabeth Gillies, Taylor Louderman, and Joy Woods. Neil Armstrong’s son Mark Armstrong will perform a special tribute to his father.

The production also features iconic music of the 1960s and 1970s, including “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Rocket Man,” “Space Oddity,” and “My Generation,” reflecting the cultural, political, and emotional complexity of the tumultuous era in which the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs unfolded.

The production follows the journeys of the astronauts, engineers, scientists, and families behind the country’s ambitious space program, transporting audiences from launch pads to Mission Control and into classrooms and living rooms around the world where millions of viewers watched history unfold in real time. The performance reaches a crescendo in the fulfillment of President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth.

The partnership builds on Griffin Catalyst’s broader commitment to strengthening freedom and democracy by connecting Americans to the ideals and individuals that define our shared story. Recent efforts include transformative support for the National Medal of Honor Museum, the Navy SEAL Foundation, and the Call of Duty Endowment, as well as initiatives to facilitate public access to foundational documents—including a loan of a rare first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution and an early printing of the seventeen proposed amendments that became the Bill of Rights, as well as the acquisition and planned public display of historic editions of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.

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