Sue Harris is an accomplished director, having directed countless shows since 2007 for Whakatāne Intermediate School, taking over from her mum after she retired.

Now, she’s directing Whakatāne High School’s version of All Shook Up, which opens tomorrow night.

Harris has also directed a wide range of shows over the years for Theatre Whakatāne, including Peter Pan, School of Rock and Oliver.

There’s been so many, she has difficulty picking a favourite.

“It’s always the last one. When I finished Oliver, that was my favourite, and School of Rock was, for me, really, good. But this one, All Shook Up, is my favourite.”

She is passionate about the young people and the confidence she is instilling in them through the musicals.

“Not all of these children will carry on with their musical theatre, but if they hadn’t had that chance on stage, how would they know that they didn't want to do it?”

She said she was thinking about stepping away from directing for a while after All Shook Up is finished, and will take more time to see the world with her husband, and give more time to golf and travelling around Aotearoa in her motorhome.

“We quite enjoy just going away for a week or two here and there. I play golf. That’s my latest passion.

“It’s a silly game, but once you get into it, you get into it.”

Harris was a teacher for 45 years before retiring with Whakatāne Intermediate School the last school she taught at.

Most of her theatre directing career had been with school shows, until she directed Oliver, which included adults in the cast.

This was hard at first, but she said she soon got over it.

“To me, it was that these people are my peers. They probably know more than I do, but you end up having a vision of where you're going.”

She has also spent years as a judge for the Zony Awards, getting to travel around the top half of the North Island and watch a lot of musical theatre.

“That gave me insight into other shows, and I saw some really, really good stuff, and I saw some not-so-good stuff.”

Harris’ parents were both involved with the theatre, and she and her family have continued in their footsteps.

“Theatre is just a focus of our family.

“My favourite show in the whole wide world is Wicked. But I don’t think I could ever direct it.”

But she also really loves All Shook Up and the cast performing it.

“This show has got the most talented cast I’ve ever worked with; they are on point, they work hard, their dancing is good, their singing is spectacular, and their acting is amazing.”

She said they were ready to go on stage and show Whakatāne audiences their stuff.

Whakatāne High Sschool’s All Shook Up opens tomorrow night, Tickets are on sale now and can be found on the school’s Facebook page.