Until late March of this year, I had never even heard of live documentaries, let alone attended one. I heard that there was going to be a production called “We Chose to go to the Moon” at Carnegie Hall with an allstar cast of Broadway actors. I was intrigued, and immediately went to Carnegie Hall’s website and read the description in which they said it would be a “Live Documentary” accompanied by an orchestra and live vocals. I still wasn’t totally clear on what that meant but I’ve always loved documentaries and the featured vocalists were either actors I’d loved or had been wanting to see forever. It was too compelling to pass up, so even though the tickets were a little expensive I decided to go for it.
Walking into the theatre I was excited but still confused as to what exactly I had gotten myself into. The stage was set up for a traditional orchestra with chairs and music stands in a semi circle facing the conductor and a few chairs set aside on the front of the stage. Soon after the lights dimmed and I experienced something unlike anything I had ever seen before. A projector turned on and began to put images of Earth on the wall behind the musicians, and the orchestra began playing “Sunrise” from Also spruce Zarathustra (If the title confused you it’s okay me too. But it’s like the space song. Look it up) and in that moment I knew I was about to witness something revolutionary.
A gentleman who works for the New York Historical Society walked onto stage and began giving what was essentially a history lecture all about the process that led America to land on the moon, and the greater space race. But intercut with his compelling and informative speech would be archival pictures and videos projected behind him. And most importantly: songs. There were 6 broadway actors present that night and it was clear they had all put an incredible amount of care and effort into their part of the production. Intermittently, they would stand up and begin singing and dancing to some of the best space themed songs out there. Some highlights include The Beatles’ “Across the Universe”, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” and of course Elton John’s “Rocket Man”.
Not everything was space themed though, both the music and the lecturer did a fantastic job of contextualizing the era through songs such as “For What it’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield and Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People”. Throughout his lecture he discussed the difficulties the US faced when trying to be the first ones to land on the moon. But that wasn’t all, he also elaborated on the social issues of the time and how they all, whether it was obvious or not, had a tie to the space race. He talked about Vietnam and the rising “hippie” culture. He discussed Nichelle Nichols and her role as the first Black female actress to be in Star Trek. He detailed the astronauts’ wives and how they were so much more than just married to the men going to space. He talked about Poppy Northcutt, the first woman to work at NASA’s mission control, and many other unsung heroes who often get left out when talking about the great moon landing of 1969.
The night featured tributes to the astronauts killed in the failed missions, a celebration of veterans, a round of applause for the members of astronauts families present, and a standing ovation for Poppy Northcutt herself who was in the audience. Towards the end of the performance Neil Armstrong’s son and granddaughter came out and sang a song in his honor. And the evening concluded with all the Broadway performers signing a haunting rendition of “Rocketman” that echoed throughout Carnegie Hall.
This performance was unlike anything I’d ever seen before and I can only dream of seeing something like it again. I learned, I laughed, I cried. There were even points where I was so caught up in the spectacle that I wanted to shout and start cheering. The documentary was filmed for PBS and is meant to be aired this fall so make sure to keep your eyes peeled. I want to give a big thank you to American History Unbound for such an incredible production. If you ever come across a live documentary, or anything even close to it, you should definitely attend! It will be one of the most amazing things you’ll ever see.