The Ballad of Little Jo

Set in the late 19th century, The Ballad of Little Jo is based on an admired independent film and inspired by the remarkable real-life frontier story of Josephine Monaghan.
Josephine, a young society woman living in Boston, bears a child out of wedlock. In search of a new life and an income to support herself and her baby, she leaves her newborn son in the care of her sister and travels out West alone. For nearly 20 years, she makes her home in a tough Idaho mining town disguised as a man called “Jo.”


The stunning score features a fantastically contrasting blend of rousing chorales and soaring ballads as it tells the sweeping tale of manifest destiny and love, loss and acceptance.

The Ballad of Little Jo has received multiple acclaimed productions. Steppenwolf Theatre Company produced The Ballad of Little Jo in 2000 as its first musical and it was subsequently mounted in 2003 at London’s Bridewell Theatre. In summer 2017, The Ballad of Little Jo played Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, starring Teal Wicks (Wicked, Finding Neverland), Eric William Morris (Be More Chill, Mamma Mia!), Jane Bruce (Elf, The Theory of Relativity), and Daniel K. Isaac (According to My Mother, Billions). A cast album was released in November 2017.