Hello!
           
My name is Judy Pancoast, and I am a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter from New England. More importantly, I am the mother of two daughters.

When my girls were little, I often mentioned how lucky they were to live in a time when their Barbie dolls could be anything they wanted to be, because when I was young, Barbie could only be a teacher, a stewardess, a secretary, or a nurse (but never a doctor).  I wanted them to know how far we’ve come because smart and brave girls and women in my lifetime fought against the cultural stereotypes to which they were once bound.

Later, when our eldest was involved in middle school theater, I noticed that there were far more girls than boys participating in the shows. I thought it would be great to write a show that had several major parts for girls, and that told a story that would help girls understand and appreciate the things I’d been telling my daughters. Thus, “Girl on the Moon” was conceived.

As a working mother, it took me many years to create the show and reach the point where it was ready for the stage. Little did I know that this public introduction would happen at a time when women’s rights are being threatened in the United States. I couldn’t possibly have foreseen that the show would also be publicly presented when one of the women of the original Mercury 13 would finally make it to outer space, 61 years after she passed the rigorous physical testing program that would qualify her to train as an astronaut, had NASA only admitted women to the program. So, as you can see, the show is timely, even though it takes place on the night of the moon landing in 1969.

It is my hope that “Girl on the Moon,” with the right producer at the helm, can be presented at regional, nonprofit, and commercial organizations and eventually become a powerful revenue-generating project available to schools and community theater groups all over the country, so that all young people can learn that, once upon a time, girls weren’t allowed to play Little League, were discouraged from careers in STEM fields and were forbidden from doing many other things that boys took for granted. Today, with the number of women in STEM falling flat after years of growth, this show is needed more than ever, and schools are encouraged to make the presentation of “Girl on the Moon” the culminating event in a weeklong study of the late 1960s-early 1970s across the curriculum ( suggested lesson plans included with your license.)
           
Thank you for exploring the possibilities of bringing “Girl on the Moon.” Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
 
Sincerely,
Judy Pancoast