“Three crak, two bam.” Sound familiar? It’s a not uncommon mah jongg player’s move. If you recognize it, A Walk on the Moon may very well be the musical for you. It’s adapted by Pamela Gray from her evocative 1999 film of the same name, now with music and lyrics by composer-lyricist Annmarie Milazzo, additional lyrics by Gray.
Even if “three crak, two bam” doesn’t immediately conjure that tiles-strong pastime for you, even if you aren’t Jewish, A Walk on the Moon may be right up your territory for being set in the highly memorable summer of 1969, the year when a man first walked on the moon.
The year 1969 may also appeal to you as a reminder of the magic time when we all imagined ourselves in Neil Armstrong’s boots, or if not imagining ourselves walking on the moon in those impression-making boots, then walking an entirely new walk on this planet, walking away from our standard routines to follow, if only for a short time, a path not previously chosen.
The short moon walk here is taken by A Walk on the Moon leading Jewish lady Pearl Kantrowitz (Talia Suskauer) during a summer when she follows family tradition and moves once again into what is identified here as one of Fogler’s Bungalows.
Pearl arrives ready to enjoy the annual break with devoted husband Marty (Max Chernin)—the devotion is mutual—as well as with mother Lillian (Andréa Burns), who seems to have an eye into the future; with ready-to-bloom teenage daughter Alison (Sophie Pollono); and with pre-teen son Danny (Leo Caravano at the performance I caught; Reid Gardner Clarke alternates).
Habitually, bungalows women spend their entire weeks planted there, whereas the men arrive from the City on Friday nights—enthusiastically comparing travel times—and return Sunday nights. So the wives are without their husbands more than not, their prime pastime, other than keeping a close eye on their children, is mah jongg or canasta.
For the most part, the games keep them occupied between meal preparations. Or doesn’t, which is where Pearl’s little marital hiatus rears its potentially scandalous head.
A regular bungalows visitor is an itinerant fellow known to all as “the blouse man.” This summer the blouse hawker they expect to encounter has been replaced by someone new, the extremely handsome, very likely not Jewish, Walker Jerome (Sam Gravitte), who isn’t above harmlessly flirting as he plies his wearable wares. When Pearl comes his way, he’s ready to chuck the harmlessness, insisting she’d look great in a tie-dye number that eventually becomes the seductive “What Tie-Dye Can Do.”
Turns out it does plenty for these two, including lots of what’s known in Yiddish as “schtupping.” The condemning word is freely spoken here by observant mom-in-law Lillian and others. More politely, Pearl and Sam indulge themselves in a summer affair that unsurprisingly causes its share to troubling consequences.
The schtupfest certainly comes to the bewildered attention of daughter Alison, caught up in her first boy-girl romance with guitar-playing Ross (Oscar Williams). Perhaps needless to say, hard-working tv repairman Marty also gets wind of the ill summer wind. And by the way, at no point in the proceedings does anyone wonder what Max might be handling other than tvs during his summer-bachelor nights back in town.
Never mind. A Walk on the Moon could come across as chicklit start to finish, although it’s quietly and movingly much more. The musical is an understanding discourse on the ins and outs of a good marriage, a marriage that undergoes not unusual rough patches and ultimately passes those tests, if not with flying colors than with sturdy hard-and-fast colors all the same. The involving tuner impresses as a letter to knot-tied couples on the prevailing durability of their marriage vows.
The Milazzo score enhances the tale even if most of the songs only hold the attention while passing. There is one second-act heart-stopper, “We Made You,” a ballad that may be unique in the annals of musical scores. Marty sings this one to Alison when he learns she thinks her conception was an accident. Through the number, he touchingly succeeds at convincing her otherwise.
Beginning to end, there’s certainly nothing amiss with the cast, including Tovah Feldshuh supplying Mrs. Fogler’s voiceovers. Sheryl Kaller is the director and also directed what could be called the pre-off-Broadway try-out when in 2022 it opened at New Brunswick’s George Street Playhouse. (Josh Prince is the helpful choreographer, Andy Einhorn the helpful music supervisor and arranger.)
So okay, it took four years for A Walk on the Moon to walk to the Hudson and cross it. Now that it’s arrived, it deserves to stick around way past the summer.
A Walk on the Moon opened June 29, 2026, at the Laura Pels Theatre and runs through August 22. Tickets and information: awalkonthemoonmusical.com
