Lauren Pritchard

Currently: Starring as Ilse, a before-her-time hippie child navigating the perils of adolescence in 1890s Germany, in Broadway's rock musical sensation Spring Awakening.

Hometown: Jackson, Tennessee. "My dad manufactures and sells school supplies, so I had play-dough in my house when I could barely walk," Pritchard recalls. "I would bring it for the entire class, so I was always the cool kid in kindergarten. I'm not kidding."

Heading for the Hills: Pritchard and her mom packed up for Los Angeles when she was 16 to pursue her dream of a music career, leaving her dad and younger brother behind in Tennessee. "We moved into a place called Oakwood Apartments in the heart of Hollywood," she remembers. "It's humongous. It was like an estate for child actors. Before that, it was a singles complex, so you still had some weirdos who had lived there for 40 years. It was…wow." Despite her singer-songwriting skills and cherubic looks, the teen had trouble getting auditions. "When you're young and you have no credits, no one will see you. No one," she says. After a year of…well, not much, Pritchard got a new agent, who led her to Spring Awakening. So there's no truth to the stories about being discovered on MySpace? "That's just a big rumor," she says. "I legitimately auditioned for the show. My story isn't that cool!"

Lastin' with Astin: Pritchard relocated to the Big Apple to prepare for the off-Broadway run of Spring Awakening in February 2006 and immediately clicked with her cast mates—one in particular, as any avid fan of the show knows by now. "I met Skylar [Astin] the first day of rehearsal and I thought he was so cute," she says, launching into the soap opera-ish saga of their teenage showmance. "It didn't work out right away. We spent an entire summer liking each other but not wanting to show it, so we would be really mean to each other. It was hilarious," she giggles, "and everyone around us was like, 'Just like each other again!' Then one night we went to dinner and talked the whole thing out—things we were upset about, things we had never talked about after we stopped dating—and we became friends again. A month later, we were officially together. We've been together a year now," she says with a dreamy smile. "He's a wonderful person. He's the love of my life. Part of me wonders if I would have survived this whole thing if I didn't have Skylar," she says thoughtfully. "I probably wouldn't have."

Winning Ways: This "whole thing," indeed: The media hoopla surrounding Spring Awakening peaked in June when Pritchard watched her show nab the top prize as Best Musical at the Tony Awards. "It was confirmation that all of the work and love and blood and sweat and tears that went into the show for the last eight years was worth it," she says of the big night. "When [co-star] John Gallagher, Jr. won [for Best Featured Actor in a Musical], we were literally jumping and screaming. I was crying so hard. It was insane."

Feeling the Spirit: With Broadway success comes hordes of young fans wanting to show their love—"I don't know if I'll ever get used to it!" Pritchard admits—and a select few who don't. "I got some hate mail from the preacher's wife from my hometown," she says, "telling me that I was going to hell and judging the character of me and my family. She said, 'I thought you guys were Christians. Use your talents to worship God.' And I feel like I am," Pritchard says emphatically. "I went to church my whole life and I don't need someone to tell me whether I believe in God or not. [Director] Michael Mayer said to us that this is what we do as worship. It's not like we're worshiping any thing—we're using the spirituality inside of us to show people this story."

Can't Stop the Music: "I get a lot of Fiona Apple and I get a lot of Joss Stone," Pritchard says of comparisons to her own smoky, soulful voice. "I think they're amazing, and if I can be a quarter as successful as them I will be a happy human being." Pritchard is on her way, with plans to start recording an album shortly under the guidance of Spring Awakening composer and pop chart-topper Duncan Sheik's music manager. "I think I will come back to theater again, but the next step that I would like to make in my life is a music step," she says. "Spring Awakening interrupted me in the middle of it. I'm very thankful it did—I'm not complaining—but I'm ready to go back to music. We're going to really go for it. It'll be crazy and really scary and 'Oh my god,' but so exciting!"