A WALK ON THE Moon.

"A Walk On The Moon" is a fun musical with great subtlety too it. Written by Pamela Grey with the great music and lyrics by AnnMarie Milazzo, the two hour and fifteen minute musical is fantastic on so many levels.

The musical takes place at Dr. Fogler's in the" Borscht Belt"; this was a place where Jewish people converged in the summer at the Catskill Mountains. Re-pleat with the Jewish phrases and customs, "A Walk On The Moon" covers many of Jewish ideology's in the era of the late 1960's.

What is very enjoyable about this musical is that it touches on serious subjects like: the Vietnam War, woman's lib, Woodstock and the changing thoughts that were washing over America in 1969 and makes lite of them in the way that the writing is never preachy or overly political. Sure, Grey brings up Richard Nixon a lot, makes references to president Trump but it is never too annoying. Grey even brings patriotism to the play showing people's pride on the astronauts landing on the moon.

The play is centered around Pearl (Talia Suskauer), Marty (Max-Chemin), their liberal 15 year old daughter, Alison (Sophie Pollomo) and their son Danny (Leo Caravano). Pearl got pregnant at 16 years old and married Marty. Realizing she missed out on her youth, she takes up with "the blouse man" Walker (Sam Gravite). As the summer moves along, she smokes pot with Walker, has sex with him and fights running from her life as her upbringing in Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn prevents her from leaving her husband.

The subject matter is always kept fun and the back-beat of the show helps keep it that way. The lighting is always in the glam mode by Robert Wierzel. The staging and video design was wonderfully done by Tal Yarden. The costumes by Ricky Laurie as well as the choreography by Josh Price gave this show the light warmheartedness that it was trying to achieve. The direction by Sheryl Kaller gave just enough of everything to keep the show interesting throughout.

Like last years summer show at the Pels theatre, "Joy", "A Walk On The Moon" gave us a lesson on what it was like to live in the 1960's. As the country was divided ideological differences, the came together for a benchmark in American history, the moon landing. Much like the World Cup here in America going on now, people put their differences aside and pull for a common, great thing that is about to happen. This time we are focused in on Pearl, Marty, their family and the people at the vacation spot that was known as the "borscht belt" where Jewish people (that were at one time restricted from going there) gathered for the summer to get out of the city and enjoy the mountains.

This musical was lighthearted and fun. As I mentioned, it was a lot like "Joy" last year. "Joy" was based on Joy Magoni, a woman who invented the mop that revolutionized how mops were made before she changed it. Like "Walk", it was a lighthearted and fun. I think more musicals like this one is needed in the future: informative, historical and yet entertaining to the audience without being too deep.

As 1969 come and went, so did American innocence. The war torn Vietnam era was in full swing and hippies were all the rage in this country. San Francisco became the place to be. The "summer of love" in 1967 had come and gone, but the thought remained the same. A war started by Kennedy, escalated by Johnson would tear the United States apart.

No Bull With Raging Robert, Hollywood, Vietnam, Tony Awards, Broadway, Joy Mangano, The Moon Landing, Iran, Donald Trump, Richard Nixon.