Millie O'Connell

Emilia Rose O'Connell (born 18 January 1997) is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Anne Boleyn in the original UK tour and West End production of the musical Six. She is part of pop girl group SVN.
==Early life==
O'Connell is from Shanklin, Isle of Wight. She is of Maltese, Irish, and Italian descent.
From the age of three, O'Connell took classes at the Gillian Cartwright School of Dance. She attended Christ the King College. After completing her GCSEs at 16, she won a scholarship to train at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, graduating in 2015, aged 18.
==Career==
O'Connell made her professional stage debut in the international revival of the show 42nd Street in 2016, in Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, forming part of the ensemble whilst understudying Peggy Sawyer. In 2017, she moved back to the UK, performing in the same show in Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, forming part of the ensemble whilst understudying Anytime Annie. In 2018 she joined the UK tour cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, understudying Millie Dillmount. 
Her rise to fame stemmed from her role of Anne Boleyn in the original UK tour cast of Six in 2018. The show's success gave it a permanent home in the West End's Arts Theatre, where she starred in the show until October 2019. Prior to leaving the show, Millie had played the most shows out of every actress in the original West End cast.
Late 2019 brought O'Connell the role of Velcro in Soho Cinders at Charing Cross Theatre. In 2020 she starred in Be More Chill as Chloe Valentine in The Other Palace. She left the show two weeks before its original closing date to rehearse for Hair at the Turbine Theatre, where she portrayed the role of Jeanie. Following this, Millie landed 'her dream role' of Maureen Johnson in Rent. She starred in this revival alongside Six cast alumna Maiya Quansah-Breed, portraying the leading role of Mimi Marquez. Due to Covid-19, the show only had five live performances before shutting due to government guidelines. In response to this, the team livestreamed a recorded version of the show during lockdown. They returned to the show in 2021, Millie returning to the role. 
In 2021, Millie returned to the role of Chloe Valentine in Be More Chill, showing at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and then returned to the role of Jeanie in Hair, showing in the London Palladium.
In April 2022, it was announced that The Cher Show would be touring the UK. Millie took on the role of Babe (Cher) on the year long tour. The show launched at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. The creative team of the show included director Arlene Phillips, choreographer Oti Mabuse and costume designer Gabriella Slade.
August 2022 brought the original cast of Six together to film a proshot, and Millie, reunited with her castmates, were granted the opportunity to reprise their roles once more at Hampton Court Palace in July.
Year	Production 	Role 	Venue
2015	Laine Leaps Ahead 	Lead/Featured Singer 	Epsom Playhouse
2016	Aladdin 	Slave of the Ring/Understudy Jasmine	Civic Theatre
2016	42nd Street 	Ensemble/Understudy Peggy Sawyer 	Theatre Du Chatelet
2017	42nd Street 	Ensemble/Understudy Anytime Annie 	Theatre Royal Drury Lane
2018	42nd Street 	Ensemble/Understudy Anytime Annie 	Theatre Royal Drury Lane
2018	Six 	Anne Boleyn 	UK tour
2019	Six 	Anne Boleyn 	Arts Theatre
2019	Soho Cinders 	Velcro 	Charing Cross Theatre
2020	Be More Chill 	Chloe Valentine 	The Other Palace
2020	Hair 	Jeanie 	Turbine Theatre
2020	Rent 	Maureen Johnson 	Hope Mill Theatre
2020	Catfish the Musical 	DD (Stars Concept Cast) 	-
2020	Halls 	Natalie (Stars Concept Cast) 	-
2021	Rent 	Maureen Johnson 	Hope Mill Theatre
2021	Be More Chill 	Chloe Valentine 	Shaftesbury Theatre
2021	Hair 	Jeanie 	The London Palladium
2022	The Cher Show 	Babe (Cher) 	UK & Ireland tour
2022	Six the Musical: Live at Hampton Court Palace	Anne Boleyn 	Hampton Court Palace
==SVN==
Millie also forms a part of the pop girl group SVN (pronounced 'seven') alongside six former West End cast members of Six: Jarnéia Richard-Noel, Natalie May Paris, Alexia McIntosh, Aimie Atkinson and Maiya Quansah-Breed, and Grace Mouat (former swing and dance captain of the original cast of SixSix (musical)|). After a limited series of concerts in October 2020, their debut concert was rescheduled from February 2022 to 7 August 2022 at the O2 Academy Islington, with the group releasing singles such as 'Stars' (2021) and 'Woman', 'Free', 'Boss' and 'At Christmas' (2022).
===Discography===
Songs released
Year	Title 	Artist	Album
2021	Queen 	SVN 	SVN
2021	Stars 	SVN 	SVN
2022	Woman 	SVN 	SVN
2022	Free 	SVN 	SVN
2022	BOSS 	SVN 	SVN
2022	At Christmas	SVN 	SVN
===Concerts===
Year	Concert 	Date 	Venue 	Producer 	Notes (if necessary)
2020	Girl Power: the Reunion 	10th-11th October	Oval Space, Bethnal Green, London	Aimie Atkinson	-
2022	SiX: Live at Hampton Court Palace	19th-20th June 	Hampton Court Palace 	Kenny Wax 	Members did not perform as SVN but as their significant roles in SIX. Grace Mouat did not feature in the event.
2022	SVN 	7th August 	O2 Academy Islington 	SVN 	Production all in-house; BOSS music video on set, with MBV productions and Genesis Lynea
==Personal life==
O'Connell is openly queer and pansexual.
==Filmography==
Year	Title 	Role 	Broadcasting channel
2015	The People's Strictly for Comic Relief	Dancer 	BBC
2016	The Entire Universe 	Dancer 	BBC
2018	This Morning 	Anne Boleyn 	ITV
2019	The One Show 	Anne Boleyn 	BBC One
2019	Olivier Awards 	Anne Boleyn 	ITV
2019	BUILD Ldn 	Herself 	The Build Series LDN
2020	Rent 	Maureen Johnson	-
2022	This Morning 	Herself 	ITV
==Awards and nominations==
Year	Work	Award 	Category 	Result
2019	Six 	Olivier Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical	
Category:1997 births
Category:English people
Category:Musical theatre actresses
Category:Singers