photo by joan Marcus

While the war in Vietnam raged on, the summer of ‘69 distracted Americans with the Apollo 11 moon landing and walk by Neil Armstrong and later, the joyous gathering of an estimated 500,000 peace - loving music- loving young people for the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival.

Roles were clearly defined.The women cared for the home and the children while the men went to work. At the same time, the women's movement was gathering momentum with Betty Friedan'sThe Feminine Mystique.

Long before air conditioning became ubiquitous and airfares to Europe affordable, Jewish New Yorkers sought refuge from the oppressive city heat by renting summer bungalows in the Catskill Mountains. The new musical, “A Walk on the Moon,” based upon the 1999 movie starring Diane Lane, focuses on a mother-wife, Pearl Kantrowitz (excellent Talia Suskauer) as she navigates the tumultuous summer of ‘69 and experiences her own coming of age. Pearl is dissatisfied but isn’t sure why and to quote the Peggy Lee song wonders, “Is That All There Is?”

Pearl is attracted to an attractive ‘blouse salesman’ Walker (Sam Gravitte.) The catalyst for Pearl is a tie-dyed shirt which she finds freeing but her TV repairman husband Marty (Max Chernin) scoffs at. Pearl doesn’t act on her impulses until Marty has to remain in the city on call for people who fear missing the moon landing. Then Pearl goes off with Walker. Later she attends Woodstock with him, much to the horror of her 15 year old daughter, Alison (Sophie Pollono), who sees her mother at an embarrassing moment.

At the same time, Alison is having her own sexual awakening when she meets Ross, a 16 year old boy at the bungalow colony. The two talk of music and politics and they, too, go to Woodstock together.

The singers, especially Suskauer and Pollono, are excellent. The chemistry between the leads is believable. Andrea Burns plays Pearl’s mother-in-law who reads tea leaves and has presentiments when she warns Pearl that she is ruining her marriage.

With music and lyrics by AnnMarie Milazzo, the show has too much forgettable original music. Alison complains her father didn't bring her record player and walks around with a radio, yet there’s no actual music from the time period which could have added a note of authenticity.

There are a few cute ‘bits’ in the musical (book and additional lyrics by Pamela Gray). Tovah Feldshuh, who played the mother-in-law Lillian in the movie, provides some humor as the voice on the bungalow colony loudspeaker. The four couples stay at the colony every summer, so each weekend the husbands compete to see who made the best time on the drive from Brooklyn. However, despite very talented performers, the musical, directed by Sheryl Kaller, often feels slight and amateurish.

Tal Yarden’s set and staging reminded me of the show we put on one summer long ago in the Catskills. Our mothers loved it, but no one would have paid for tickets. Many in the audience at Laura Pels Theater watching "A Walk on the Moon" were old enough to have recalled those fascinating days, but sadly, the show is too generic to recreate those wondrous feelings.