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The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day is Now Airing on PBS Stations and Streaming on PBS.org
Join host Katie Couric, historian John Monsky, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops for a Veterans Day tribute with The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day, a visual and symphonic journey through the final months of World War II in Europe. Experience history like never before through the eyes of iconic figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Robert Capa, Lee Miller, J.D. Salinger and the 761st Tank Battalion who risked everything in their search for the truth to write the first draft of history.
The production is set to a stirring mix of music performed by top Broadway stars, with compositions from Glenn Miller, Richard Rodgers, Edith Piaf, and more.
How to Watch:
The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day is now airing on PBS Stations nationwide!
Broadcast Date and Time: Beginning November 1, check your local listings, or see link below.
Streaming: The Eyes of the World is now available for streaming on PBS.org and the PBS App. See below.
About the Program
Through stirring music, rare archival photos, film, and personal accounts, The Eyes of the World tells the dramatic story of the final eleven months of World War II in Europe through 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.
Historian John Monsky narrates and leads audiences through the stories of these remarkable figures. Their journeys intersect as they report on the War from D-Day to VE Day, trying to stay alive in their search for the truth to get the story out. And maybe, even save the world.
Along the way, their stories cross paths with such remarkable characters as Pablo Picasso, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Marlene Dietrich, Hemingway’s estranged wife, war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, the 761st Tank Battalion, dubbed “The Black Panthers,” for their bravery and heroism and the all-female, all-Black 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Broadway vocalists who have performed in the production include Shereen Ahmed (My Fair Lady), Lilli Cooper (Tootsie), Kristolyn Lloyd (Dear Evan Hansen), Stephanie Jae Park (Hamilton), Adam Jacobs (Aladdin), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), Nicholas Rodriguez (Company), and Daniel Yearwood (Sweeney Todd).
Music captures the essence of the times and drives the emotion of the story home, featuring compositions from Glenn Miller, Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser, Edith Piaf, and Jerome Kern. We hear Aaron Copland’s “Letter from Home” as the boys in the Hürtgen receive long-awaited mail. Fred Ebb and John Kander’s “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” from Cabaret, is combined with haunting images establishing Hitler’s rise to power. “Freedom’s Road,” with lyrics by Langston Hughes, reminds us of the double V campaign: the fight against fascism aboard and racism at home.
The lecture is inspired by a collection of historic flags that landed on the Normandy Beaches with the American troops and bore witness to both glory and heartbreak on the road to victory.
The Eyes of the World’s May 2024 performance at Boston’s Symphony Hall, with the legendary Boston Pops Orchestra (conducted by Keith Lockhart), honoring the 80th anniversary of D-Day, is currently streaming on PBS.org. It has also been presented at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, the John F. Kennedy Center Opera House, and most recently in December 2024, the East Room of the White House. In remarks following the performance, President Joe Biden congratulated the cast and commented that he has been attending events in the East Room since his election to the Senate at age 29, saying: “I have been to many, many events here in this room. This is the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
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