The Musical:

GIRL ON THE MOON, a musical about reaching for the stars, is the first youth musical by Grammy nominee Judy Pancoast. A period piece which takes place on July 20th, 1969, the show focuses on the challenges faced by girls who wanted non-traditional futures during the late sixties, and how five girls come to realize what they must do to achieve their dreams. Featuring ten memorable original songs and five varied and interesting lead roles for female-identifying actors, Girl on the Moon was designed with the typical adolescent theater troupe in mind. The show also includes three supporting roles for male-identifying actors and one featured non-singing role for a female-identifying actor. A full chorus makes this show expandable for as many actor-singers as there are in your group.

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The Characters:

Young teen Marti Mitchell dreams of being an astronaut when she grows up, and she’s very excited about the moon landing. Marti has invited her four best friends to a sleepover party at her house so they can all be together when they watch the first man walk on the moon. As the girls discuss their hopes and dreams for the future, Marti realizes that she may have difficulties achieving her goals simply because she’s a girl.

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Jenny Parker comes from a family of peacenik social activists, a.k.a. “hippies,” who protest the war in Vietnam. Jenny is a singer-songwriter and a budding feminist in a nation that is only now beginning to acknowledge the Women’s Liberation Movement. She is a serious, politically-motivated girl who wants to change the world with her music, and she dreams of being a successful and famous musician like Judy Collins. 

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Juniper Parker is Jenny’s twin sister, who performs with her at coffeehouses and school events. Juniper is bright, but scatterbrained, not political at all and much more of a social butterfly than her sister. She doesn’t really know what she wants to be when she grows up, so for now she is content to sing with her sister and have a good time with her friends.

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Colette King is from a conservative family with a history of military service. Her brother is currently missing in action in the Vietnam War. Colette’s dream is to settle down and raise a family. She is the more traditional girl in the group, and represents the bridge between the girls of the past era who married right out of high school, and the girls of the future who went on to college and careers. 

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Judy Baker is a typical gum-chewing late-sixties teenybopper who dreams of being a radio disc jockey someday. She loves popular music, listening to the radio, record collecting and reading teen magazines. Her favorite singer is Bobby Sherman, but she has room in her heart for all the teen idols. Judy has a great sense of humor and loves to tease in a good-natured way, but she’s headed for a big disappointment when she learns that “no one wants to hear” the female voice on the radio.

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Ray King is Colette’s older brother. He has been missing in action in Vietnam but returns at the end of the show to sing a heartfelt duet with his sister.

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Bobby Mitchell is Marti’s eight-year old brother, the typical pest and prankster.

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Jimmy Brown is Bobby’s best friend, who likes to mimic everything Bobby does.

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Mrs. Mitchell, Marti’s mother, who comes to the rescue when Bobby is getting out of hand.

 

About Judy Pancoast:

Judy Pancoast is a child of the sixties and seventies whose music is greatly influenced by the Top Forty pop songs of the time. Since 1996 she has focused mainly on creating music for children, and her 2010 album “Weird Things are Everywhere, a Reading Road Trip with Judy Pancoast” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album. She is also known for her hit “The House on Christmas Street,” which is heard at fabulous outdoor lighting displays all over the world during the holiday season. As a result of her Christmas music, in 2015 Judy was commissioned by the best-selling author Joe R. Lansdale to adapt one of his works, “Christmas with the Dead,” into a full-length musical. She had so much fun working on that project that she decided to revive a long-dormant idea that she’d had in 2002 to create a musical for middle schoolers that had several interesting roles for girls. “Girl on the Moon” is that musical.