Seton Hill musical theatre faculty member Joseph Domencic is taking Pittsburgh area students to the moon - and beyond. 

Domencic and his wife, Christina McCann, co-wrote the 50-minute mini-musical "Beyond the Moon" for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's "Gallery of Heroes" program, which educates and entertains students with stories about historical figures such as Galileo, George Washington, and Harriet Tubman.

“We read a lot about how guys like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin felt they were just ordinary people, or how they applied 15 times to become an astronaut before being accepted, or how some of them were not that great at science in school,” Domencic told the Tribune-Review. “I thought, ‘What a great thing for kids to hear,’ that you don’t have to feel like you’re this superhero.”

“Beyond the Moon,” tells the story of 15-year-old Maya, who has dreams of being the first person to set foot on Mars but believes she is just not special enough to become an astronaut. Maya meets real-life astronauts like Neil Armstrong, Mae Jemison and José Hernandez, who help her gain self-confidence in her goal to reach Mars.

Read more in this Tribune-Review article.