Orphan Train
Genre: Historical Musical Drama
Format: Live In-Person Performance
Keywords: American history, found family, child welfare and labor history, social reform, resilience, moral responsibility, heartfelt and uplifting
Cast Size: 37+ (17 female, 20 male); with doubling, as few as 15 (7 female, 8 male); optional extras
Duration: Approximately 90 minutes
Time Period: 1872-1873
Cautions: Themes of child abuse and neglect; suicidal ideation; violence and death; references to capital punishment and sexual abuse
Listen to Sample Tracks
Excerpts provided for perusal purposes only.
In the 1870s, six orphan children are pulled from the streets of New York and put on a train headed west, promised new homes and second chances. Instead, they enter a system defined by bureaucratic indifference.
The adults who run it must decide what justice looks like when care is reduced to procedure—and whether responsibility ends once the train departs.
As families accept, reject, and reshape their futures, the children confront what survival really means—and what happens when adults intervene without remaining accountable.
Inspired by the true Orphan Train movement, Orphan Train is a sweeping musical about the reckoning of lives in transit.
How We Price
Our pricing is simple and transparent. Each play includes two parts: a one-time script fee of $150, which grants you immediate access to the play and permission to copy and share it within your program; and a performance license of $65 per performance, which covers your live productions for the selected license duration.
How You License
At checkout, select your license duration (for example, the current or next school year) and the number of performances you plan to give. Each license covers live, in-person performances.
What You Get
You’ll receive an instant download of the following:
- the book (script)
- performance tracks
- rehearsal tracks
- instrument sheet music
- scenic backdrop images
- costuming guide
- Author Insights article
- free classroom lesson plans
During your license period, you’re free to copy, print, and share the script within your school or theatre program for rehearsal and performance use—no per-script fees or copy limits.
Praise for This Musical
"Orphan Train is an unromanticized yet smartly sensitive musical-theatre portrayal of a polemical chapter of late 19th-century American history ... With a winsome score that uses catchy stylistic diversity to reflect the complexities of the show’s absorbing content ... Orphan Train is a touching new musical that will seriously entertain anyone who is, or ever was, a kid. Intellectually challenging, emotionally enthralling, and visually transporting." - Lisa Jo Sagolla, Backstage
“Orphan Train has the comic book-grit of Annie combined with the raw guts of a Sondheim historical show. This is an important show, entertaining in the extreme and historically informative at the same time. Melding these elements is not easy but the creators and interpreters here have done the job of giving their audience more than they bargained for and still sending them out humming.” - J. Peter Bergman, Bright Focus
“From the moment we discovered this remarkable story and its beautiful music, we knew it would be a powerful experience for our students and our community. Working alongside our talented students, and in collaboration with the gifted playwright and composer, has been both inspiring and rewarding. Their dedication, creativity, and passion brought this story to life on our stage in a way that we will never forget.” - Karlene Krouse: Performing Arts Director, Bishop Luers High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana
“The musicalized story of these children’s transports realizes all its opportunities to engage the audience emotionally. And contrary to what you might expect from this somber subject matter, this is not a sung-through, operatic and atonal musical. Doug Katsaros’ score is packed with melody-rich songs.” - Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp
“This slice-of-history musical is undoubtedly the one Festival show that will exert the strongest tug on your heart strings. As the stunning finale of the musical with a book by the prolific journalist and author, L.E. McCullough, makes all too plain, the problem of ‘surplus children’ remains with us.” - Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp
“The story is told simply yet tellingly by L. E McCullough’s script, underscored by Doug Katsaros’ compelling music and Michael Barry Greer’s incisive lyrics.” - Martin Kelly, Ravena News Herald
“It’s the children who make this musical a worthy experience. With their poignant songs and stage innocence they make this a message play about the condition of children throughout history.” - Larry Litt, New York Theatre Wire
“Welcome to Orphan Train, a tiny but moving little musical. Although it’s set in 1872, Birch makes sure that Orphan Train doesn’t remain a period piece. After 78 minutes of watching the action unfold, Birch has her players return in modern streetclothes to recite statistics about homelessness and poverty among children in our time. It’s a sobering end to a night that will make you think.” - Peter D. Kramer, Journal News
“This poignant piece of musical theatre ... all works quite well together, the music, lyrics, set, and costumes but it is the power of the story itself that makes this ... unforgettable.” - Charles Isaac, Joy Papers
“High-quality emotional verve with every role in this production filled beautifully. You’ll find yourself repeating the hooks over and over again days after watching it and remembering the voices of the singers to boot.” - Galen Hawthorne, Fairfield Ledger