Josephine Davis is No Little Woman

When Josephine Davis got the news that she would be playing Jo March in Little Women, she couldn’t have been happier. Surrounded by family who rallied around her in support, she says, “it was kind of like a family relationship moment because with the friends that I had, and all the women I had around me to be happy for me to get that sort of role was really nice.” 

Playing the role of Jo March is no easy task. With over 300 lines throughout the show, Jo is rarely off stage. Josephine has worked tirelessly to memorize her lines, practicing with Quizlet and running lines with friends every chance she gets. With just a few days until opening night, she’s feeling the pressure. This is one of Josephine’s most meaningful roles, and one she’s been hoping for for a long time. “I practically begged her [Ms. Kostecka] to do this play,” Josephine laughs, “I did really want Jo, and I knew I’d have to work quite a bit for it, but I’m very excited.” 

Josephine has been involved in musical theater since her sixth grade performance of Beauty and the Beast, but has been singing for as long as she can remember. She sang at talent shows and school performances all through elementary school, and has worked to build a distinguished musical repertoire. Last year, Josephine starred as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, so it’s not her first time playing a main role. This time, however, her role is a lot more personal. 

It seems like a nice coincidence that Josephine has the same name as the character she is playing, but it turns out that Josephine’s name is closely tied to Jo March. Although she was partly named after the Josephines in her own family history, Josephine’s mom liked that the name also belonged to one of her favorite literary characters, Jo March. Josephine's parents waited until they met Josephine to name her, and once they did, it wasn’t a hard decision. Within hours of her birth, Josephine could hold her head up, and naming her after a bold and determined character was even more fitting. Josephine was the perfect name, both a familial tradition and an ode to a beloved character. 

Josephine read Little Women for the first time in seventh grade and has since read it more times than she can count. “I’ve never met another book that looked exactly like it,” she explains. “I just felt a nice little connection to it.” It’s easy to understand how Josephine relates to the bold and adventurous March sister. Like Jo, who cuts her hair to help her mother travel to see her sick father, and promises to make her sisters’ dreams come true when she becomes a famous writer, Josephine is similarly selfless and family oriented. While both are close with their families, they also have a taste for solitude. When Josephine started high school she says, “I became a little less shy and a little less caring of what people actually thought about me, which is nice. It’s a nice thought to have, but it can be a little lonely.” Caring less about others’ opinion of her has led her to spend less time with negative people, and during her junior year, she found a warm and inclusive community in drama club. She views her past moments of loneliness as something that made her stronger, like Jo March, who towards the end of the story says, “I am lonely, sometimes, but I dare say it's good for me.”