By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

HARRISON — Lilah Landers plans to trade in her stand-up comedy routine for some serious acting.

More accurately, her love of being in the limelight and performing comedy for a live audience led her to audition for a part in Go Iguanas!

She made it to the second day of in-person auditions in Portland. She impressed the director with her ability to ad lib. She got the part, a supporting actress re-occuring role. It was quite a feat considering more than 400 people auditioned around the United States.

Go Iguanas!is a TV series on the Premier network. Premier offers family friendly shows. There is an app available so that people can stream the shows. 

Since March, Lilah has joined fellow actors for monthly rehearsals via Zoom. 

The real excitement happens in December when she travels to Disney World in Florida to be in front of the camera during the filming of the sixth season of Go Iguanas!

“I’ve always done stand-up comedy. I wanted to try something new. I thought since I was good at stand-up comedy, I would be good at acting,” Lilah said. “I am excited about the shows I am going to do and going swimming.”

After all, Lilah is 10 years old. And, what 10-year-old from Maine doesn’t like swimming and playing outdoors? In fact, when Lilah is not busy with home-schooling, community service work or competing in pageants, Lilah visits her grandparents’ camp in Waterford, where she goes swimming and hangs out with friends who she has known for years.

“I go to camp. I swim and bike. I walk around with my friends,” Lilah said.  

Now, she’s looking forward to getting to know some new friends on the cast of Go Iguanas!

“She has made some friends because they have been on Zoom,” her mom Nicole Landers said. “I’m sure they will be fast friends when the yet down there. The cast is mostly girls.”

The filming will take place at Swan & Dolphin Resort, which is part of Disney World. 

Lilah listed other things that she is anticipating during this new chapter in her life.

“Probably being able to show my personality more. And, I get to be on TV,” she smiled.

Lilah’s ability to memorize the script has earned her a good reputation. If one of the actors is absent or late, people rely on Lilah to know that part, too. 

“Sometimes, it can be tricky. I have a problem with pronouncing words. If you cannot [pronounce it], you find a different way to say it,” Lilah said.

“For the audition, she had a minute to memorize her part,” Nicole said. “She is really good at remembering words. I told her if she didn’t know how to pronounce words to find a different way to say the same thing.”

Nicole said that was one reason director Michael Palance chose Lilah — she didn’t get stumped by words and she was able to be flexible.

“After her audition, they said if they liked you, you would get a call back. We went the next day, and they choose her on the spot,” Nicole said. 

Believe it or not, Lilah is more of an introvert than an extrovert. In other words, she is shy. 

“When I am doing my comedy I like how they always laugh. Since COVID, I’m in a big room and a small crowd and I cannot hear them laughing,” she said. “I like really big crowds.” 

“I am mostly shy. But sometimes, I cannot be shy. If there is a couple people watching, I am shy. If there is a roomful of people or if I’m on stage, I am not shy,” Lilah said.

Her mom agreed. 

“She’s like a light switch,” Nicole said.

Lilah is familiar with being on stage, having been in pageants since she was four. This past weekend, Lilah competed in Miss Pre-Teen Maine and got first runner up.

Also, Lilah is very active in her community, in her hometown of Harrison. 

She sells candy bars and uses the money to buys gifts such as socks, puzzles, lotion, slippers, blankets, stuffed animals, scarves and gloves for residents at the nursing homes in Norway and Windham. Before the pandemic, Lilah visited them.

“Every year at Christmas, we bake cookies or cupcakes and go give them to our neighbors,” Lilah said. 

“We did it for the pageants to show that you care, to be a role model,” she said.

A lot of people in the community know her because she helps out around town with events like Christmas in Harrison, and Earth Day Cleanup, Nicole said.

Nicole is the owner of Jewlz Beyond Hair Salon in Naples. Her clients, her co-workers and the employees at the next door business Annette’s Country Skillet Diner — they all are excited to see Lilah on TV. 

“They were so proud that someone from a small town is going to be on TV,” Nicole said. “We’ve been asked to have her sign a photograph so that when she gets famous, they’ll have one to put on the wall.”