John Monsky, creator of "The Eyes of the World," is shown during a performance this year at The Orpheum Theatre in New York City. | American History Unbound
Published on August 27, 2025 at 2:43 pm
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A multimedia performance created by a Jacksonville man that has been presented at The Kennedy Center and Boston Symphony Hall will come to Jacksonville on Sept. 30.
The performance of John Monsky’s The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day will benefit Wolfson Children’s Hospital as it tells the story of World War II’s final months in Europe through eyes of famous authors and war photographers.
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Monsky spoke about the production and its genesis Wednesday on First Coast Connect on WJCT News 89.9. As the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra weaves its way through wartime music, Monsky, a 1977 graduate of The Bolles School, also serves as the live narrator of the The Eyes of the World, the first time his work will be performed in his hometown.
“There’s nothing more important than me coming back to Jacksonville. This is where my heart is,” Monsky said. “I lost both my parents over the last two years, and my brother and sister were saying, maybe we should do a memorial service, then we turned around and said that Mom and Dad would want to do something for the community, so we hope the community enjoys this, and this is for Jacksonville.”
The production is a perfect opportunity to raise funds for Wolfson Children’s Hospital, said Kymberly Wolfson, Wolfson Family Foundation board member and event co-chairperson.
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“We saw a lot of parallels in the story of The Eyes of the World and ultimately what is a message of hope in spite of overwhelmingly challenging odds,” Wolfson said. “We see that in the Children’s Hospital, which when we all come together, which is what we as a women’s board have a goal of doing — raising funds and awareness for our children’s hospital, spreading that message to the community. And when we all come together, we are able to support children and their family in the hardest times.”
Monsky is a historian and lawyer who received a history degree from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard University. A New York City resident, he is a senior partner at Oak Hill Capital and serves on the boards of Rockefeller University and the Yale University Art Gallery.
This production starts with four figures — writers Ernest Hemingway and J.D. Salinger and war photographers Robert Cappa and Lee Miller. All four were friends, Monsky said.
“We see the momentous effort of the U.S. Army from D-Day to VE Day in Europe through their eyes,” he said. “And it’s an incredible story, the way the war affected them, what they saw. That is why we call it Eyes of the World — the war seen through their eyes.”
The production also relates how a young soldier named Jerry, who was part of D-Day landings on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, saw the war. But it also touches on historic figures like artist Pablo Picasso, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and the U.S. Army’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only predominantly Black, all-woman unit to serve overseas during World War II.
Their job was to sort and deliver mail to American soldiers. Their motto: “No mail, low morale.” Monsky said that story will have lots of meaning in Jacksonville.
“We have family members from 6888 in Jacksonville. Of course, we have a great military history. So all of these elements come together to create a different experience,” Monsky said. “The bad news is that I have a really hard time explaining this to people, but when they get there, they see something really different.”
The production is set to a period soundtrack performed by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, with other elements like historic footage from World War II films and dramatic readings from Broadway stars like Shereen Ahmed, Daniel Yearwood, Kate Rockwell and Nicholas Rodriguez.
Monsky narrates the production, saying that all the elements are there to drive the story.
“I like to call it emotional history,” he said. “The orchestra is the core of it, and the entire program, whether you think of it as sort of (PBS documentary producer) Ken Burns, or Hamilton, the orchestra’s playing almost the entire time, underscoring the story that I am telling, or playing Glenn Miller, all songs from the period like Aaron Copeland. Music is interwoven to tell the stories of these four figures.”
Ian Weinberger, music director of Hamilton on Broadway, is the show’s music supervisor, arranger and conductor.
The performance of The Eyes on the World will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts, 300 Water St. Tickets range from $85 to $150 per person, with premium tickets available for $250.
