Teen Kierstyn Moran Takes Her Talents to the Stage

Singing, dancing and acting are Kierstyn Moran’s three great loves.

The aspiring young performer has been doing all three with Kidz Theater, a professional theater group in New York City for kids and teens, for the past few years on local stages in New York. The Kidz Theater has even brought Kierstyn all the way down to Disney World and she just returned from her second trip there last week.

Now this weekend Kierstyn and some of her fellow Kidz Theater group members will perform at the Relay for Life event this Saturday during the 10 p.m. remembrance ceremony.

She got into Kidz Theater a few years ago when she was going into the ninth grade and has several shows under belt including “Seussical Junior,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Ragtime,” “A Chorus Line,” “Annie Junior,” and “Children of Eden.”

In Disney World, the group did two performances putting on a mini concert of five musical theater songs. She and about 15 others from the theater group also got to take part in a Disney workshop where they got the opportunity to sing songs from “The Lion King” and was also able to enjoy the park while they were there.

Kierstyn said the theater group performs about three times a year putting on shows in spring, summer and fall.  At times it can be a bit of a challenge to balance school and her acting but she finds that during times when she does have rehearsals two weeknights and Saturdays, she is able to focus even more.

She hopes to continue to perform when she gets older as she would love to do Broadway, television, movies or tour.  Kierstyn said she enjoys playing comedic roles and referred to some of her favorite characters she portrayed over the years like Lilly St. Regis in “Annie Junior” and Christine in a “Chorus Line."

Kierstyn said she started out dancing and used to compete when she was much younger. Her love for dance led to singing and acting. Now she's even begun teaching herself how to play guitar. She said she's been inspired by Taylor Swift who is one of her favorite singers and she's always been a fan of Michael Jackson and lots of Motown music too.

Getting into the Kidz Theater which works with kids ages 8 to 19 although Kierstyn said the group mostly caters towards teens, was a tough process involving applications and performing songs and dances. The first time she auditioned she didn’t get into the group but she saw what a positive environment it was and she auditioned again and got in.

“You should always stick with it. It helped me better myself as a person and a performer,” Kierstyn said.

Aside from performing at the Relay for Life on Saturday, Kierstyn and a group of friends have formed a team and will walk for those who are fighting cancer on in memory of others.