Millie's busy with shows, study plans

TALENT: Former WHS student, Millie Manning plays Queenie in The Pohutukawa Tree at Repertory Theatre.
PICTURE: Stuart Munro

Millie Manning, who has just turned 18, is a very busy young woman. I spoke to her during a break in rehearsals of The Pohutukawa Tree at Repertory Theatre in which she plays a significant role, Queenie, daughter of the matriarch, Aroha.

While Millie's rehearsing for The Pohutukawa Tree at Repertory Theatre she's also in rehearsal at Amdram for their upcoming one-act play production, working part-time as a gymnastics instructor at Wanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club and working part-time at two coffee bars.

Since finishing high school at the end of 2016 Millie has been focusing on working and saving to realise her goal of spending a year as a full-time sports-based gymnastics student in Denmark. She's already booked her flight for August.

"I'll get a certificate in sports and exercise but it's more about the whole experience rather than the qualification," Millie says. Although this confident young woman claims Maori descent from her father, her mother is Dutch. "Denmark is near Holland so I hope I will be able to go to Holland and spend time with my mother's family. I can't speak Dutch but I can understand it when I hear it spoken. Maybe I'll learn to speak it a bit too. I also hope to learn to speak Danish while I'm there although it will help that so many Danish people also speak English."

A ski trip to Norway is is a component of the sports course that Millie is looking forward to and she also mentioned a desire to visit Germany when she's in Europe. "If I can I'd love to go to Edinburgh, explore the castles and all the old buildings there. I suppose I'd better do a bit more research before I go so I've got a good idea of what I'll be able to do," she says.

In the meantime Millie is rehearsing at Repertory Theatre, playing the part of a young Maori woman whose innocence is exploited by an unscrupulous youth.

Many among Wanganui theatre goers will remember Millie as little Red Riding Hood in our 2016 pantomime. She charmed us all then and will no doubt charm us all again in her portrayal of a very different young woman.

By Nadine Rayner
Wanganui Midweek 5/4/17