kidsActing star Lilah Guaragna isn't even quite ten years old yet, but she's already working on her tenth kidsActing show! In January, you'll be able to see her in the Center Stage Saturday cast of Seussical: The Musical playing the mischievous and magical Cat in the Hat. Not only that- but in October, she was one of the brave kA kiddos who strutted her stuff solo in the "Kids Got Talent" competition! We took a moment to catch up with Lilah to find out all about audition jitters, some of her favorite roles, and what she'd do if she won that grand prize $10,000 scholarship...

kA: Hi, Lilah! Thanks so much for talking with us today. First things first: how long have you been doing shows with kidsActing?

Lilah: I've been doing kidscating for a very long time - I started when I was six when I did an Annie summer camp

kA: Let me guess...you played Molly?

Lilah: Yes, I was Molly!

kA: A lot of great kidsActing careers start out that way, actually! What do you remember from that summer camp?

Lilah: I remember that during the show, I was very nervous... but as it went on, I realized that this is what I love to do... and I've been continuing ever since then!

kA: How cool that you knew you loved it even then! What other shows and parts have you enjoyed?

Lilah: Well, I did The Sound of Music - I played Maxine, so I got to sing a song about being patriotic ["There's No Way to Stop It"], and that was a really fun song. Then last spring I was in Beauty & the Beast and I was LeFou. I really love comedy and I especially love the character roles.

kA:  That's great!  So tell us, what did you do for your KGT audition?  Something funny?

Lilah:  I actually auditioned with a monologue from a show called The Audition!  It's actually about theatre, I played this girl who thought she wasn't good at anything, and then she finally got cast in the school play of Winnie the Pooh and she got the role of Tigger.  She practiced really hard, but in the end her mom didn't know about it and she didn't come to show... so it was funny and serious at the same time.

kA:  Could you connect to the character then, since she was auditioning, just like you were?

Lilah:  Definitely.  She was very nervous, which I can relate to -- I get nervous, too.

kA:  You do?

Lilah:  Oh, yes. I had ticket #5...  So when they came into the room and called "number five," I got so nervous, and I asked if my mom could come with me for part of it...  They said it was okay, as long as she didn't come into the theatre with me.  When I got in, I thought I might know some of the judges, that some of them might be kidsActing people, but I didn't know who they were at all!  They were really nice, but that did make me more nervous.

kA:  So what did you do?

Lilah:  I just did it! Once I was up there speaking, I got into it and it went great.

kA:  I bet!  Then what happened?

Lilah:  I got feedback afterwards. They said I did really well, and one of the judges said I was really cute! They said my eyes were wandering around a little bit, which is my habit, but mostly they said I did really good... so when I walked out of the theatre, I was like "Phew, that's over!"  Yeah, it was crazy...

kA:  Did they say anything else?

Lilah:  Well, since they added an extra date [for the first round], I don't know yet if I'm called back, but I'm wondering if I will.

kA:  Well, we'll keep our fingers crossed for you, Lilah.  I hope you went and celebrated your courage and your great audition!

Lilah:  Yes!  Afterwards, we went and got Amy's Ice Cream... The guy actually threw my ice cream to me- and I didn't catch it the first time, but I caught it the second time and everybody in the store cheered!

kA:  Cool!  Is there anything you want to tell us about Seussical?

Lilah:  Well, it's very fun.  I actually get to rise up through the stage!  It's the first time I've ever used a trap door.... I'm excited about it...  in other plays, other people have gotten do that kind of stuff, like Gaston in the window [in Beauty & the Beast], but not me...  I've really been wishing to enter from the stage like that, so I'm really excited!

kA:  Last question... have you started thinking about what you'd do with the grand prize if you won the $10,000?

Lilah:  Oh, yes!  If I got the scholarship, I would want to go to Juilliard!

kA:  Well, all right -- Juilliard better watch out!  Thanks again, Lilah, and break a leg-- we're looking forward to Seussical!