“We Chose to Go to the Moon,” performed life at Carnegie Hall in April, is part documentary and part musical. (credit: American History Unbound)

Review: We Chose to Go to the Moon

by Jeff Foust
Monday, November 9, 2026

As the 60th anniversaries of the Apollo program start to appear on the horizon, it is increasingly difficult to find something new to say about that effort to send humans to the Moon, or new ways to tell that story. Most of those involved have long since told their stories about their roles in Apollo, if they chose to do so; many are no longer with us. The historical records have been scoured, although even old photos can tell new stories (see “Is there in truth no beauty? Remastering Apollo with Andy Saunders”, The Space Review, this issue.)

There is still creativity, though, in storytelling. “What you’re about to see is unlike any telling about mankind’s journey to the Moon that I have ever experienced,” Ron Howard, the director of Apollo 13, says at the beginning of “We Chose to Go to the Moon,” which will premiere on PBS November 10 and also be available on the network’s website and app.

PBS, in its publicity materials for the show, calls it a “‘living documentary’ and immersive theatrical experience.” It is not clear what a “living documentary” is, but immersive theatrical experience is an apt description for the two-hour performance that was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in April.

“We Chose to Go to the Moon” is part documentary, part musical, and part multimedia show. John Monsky, a writer and historian, serves as the narrator on stage, taking the audience on a guided tour through the history of the early Space Age, frequently interspersed with performances, both spoken word and singing, by a small cast of actors.

There are no costumes and no props, other than a handful of artifacts that Monsky shows off during the performance, like a small swatch of material that had been cut off in the production of the flag that would go to the Moon on Apollo 11 or a felt-tip pen, made in Brooklyn, that Buzz Aldrin would use to fix a broken ignition switch in the lunar module on that mission so they could lift off from the surface. (“Never count out Brooklyn!” Monsky declares to cheers from the audience.)

There is, though, extensive use of images and video, projected on screens behind the performers, as well as an orchestra on stage. That orchestra supports the musical aspect of the performance, with the cast singing pop songs from the era, from “Space Oddity” to “Age f Aquarius.” There is also a cameo near the end with Neil Armstrong’s son Mark and graddaughter Kali; she sings a song he wrote about Neil’s love of flying gliders.

“We Chose to Go to the Moon” is a whirlwind review of the early space program up through Apollo (a coda fast-forwards even faster up to the present day and Artemis 2.) It never lingers on any single event or person; Armstrong is the closest to a central historical figure in the performance. It sticks to the straight and narrow in historical interpretations of the race to the Moon; a celebration as much as a documentary.

It’s unlikely you will learn anything new from the performance, but it is entertaining and, as Howard says, novel. It is also enlightening to see how the events of more than a half-century ago are reinterpreted for new generations and new audiences. In an era of short-form video on smartphones, the stage still offers a sense of grandeur and gravitas. It also makes one wonder if, six decades hence, we will see something similar for Artemis.

Jeff Foust (jeff@thespacereview.com) is the editor and publisher of The Space Review, and a senior staff writer with SpaceNews. He also operates the Spacetoday.net web site. Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone.

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