LYNN — Apple TV’s show “Masters of the Air,” produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman is coming home to Lynn every Monday evening for the next four weeks, showing two episodes each night at The Neal Rantoul Vault Theatre.
A nine-part sequel to “Band of Brothers,” the show covers the air war over Europe, in the point of view of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force, from deployment in England in 1943 to the end of the war in 1945. The group was known as the “Bloody 100th.”
Lead navigator of the 100th and Lynn native, Harry Crosby, played by Irish actor Anthony Boyle, was one of only 4-5 officers who managed to survive from deployment in mid-1943 until the end of the war.
“It’s surreal to have somebody playing your dad,” Jeff Crosby, son of Harry, said.
Harry wrote the memoir, “A Wing and a Prayer,” which documents many of the experiences of his that are also seen on screen.
Jeff, retired president of IUE-CWA Local 201, said a handful of people told him they wanted to watch his father’s story on screen, but didn’t have Apple TV subscriptions.
This gave Crosby the idea to team up with LynnArts to bring the show to Lynn for free.
With the help of a $1,000 Lynnspire grant received from the City of Lynn, and permission from Apple, all community members are welcome at the Vault Theatre from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. every Monday night until July 22.
Each night will air two episodes, with July 1 showing episodes 3 and 4. Jeff said he provides a recap before each showing.
“It makes me hopeful that people will watch this and think about what it took to defeat fascism, and look around us now, in the country, in the world, and think about what it takes to defend democracy,” Jeff said.
