She’s squeaked. She’s played the wrong note. But Leila Manzano - and Walter - are going to be just right

Warwick Valley Middle School fifth grader Leila Manzano has a range of talents.

Among them, Leila plays the clarinet, she is part of the WVMS Drama Club and she recently took home a first-place prize for engineering at the Warwick Valley Middle School STEM Fair.

But wait. There’s more.

Leila is part of a ventriloquism duo that received rave reviews for its debut last year during the Park Avenue Elementary talent show. The other half of the duo is Walter, a snail puppet with a big personality and an even bigger appetite.

“Walter’s always hungry,” Leila deadpanned. “He’s like a little raccoon, always looking for food.”

Despite being a snail, Walter’s rise to fame among the Warwick Valley school community was anything but slow. After their big debut, Leila started regularly bringing him to school.

“We love our fans so much,” she laughed. “After the talent show, everybody knew who he was. He even had a girlfriend ... but they broke up.”

Band teacher Ryan Muehlbauer, who taught Leila at Park Avenue, had already been impressed by Leila’s dedication and drive as a clarinet player when he saw Leila and Walter’s act. But after seeing her talent show performance, he was blown away by her comedic timing, stage presence and ability to write a crowd-pleasing routine.

“I thoroughly enjoyed her skit from start to finish,” he said. “I could see the same intensity and focus she shows in band playing out in a completely different and really creative, way.”

Vocal projection

Leila first became interested in ventriloquism after watching a Jeff Dunham special with her parents, but noted that Kermit the Frog was the only puppet she knew before then. Leila’s parents explained the idea behind what Dunham was doing and Leila decided to try it herself using YouTube tutorials.

It turns out that she had already been training for it without realizing it. Unintentionally, Leila had been working on vocal projection, a core technique in ventriloquism.

“My mom hates mouth noises,” Leila smirked. “Ever since first grade, I’d make weird sounds without moving my mouth and act like I didn’t know where they were coming from.”

Leila wasn’t always the confident performer she is today. She remembers the nerves that gripped her before she took the stage at the Park Avenue Elementary talent show.

“I was shaking like crazy,” she explained. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t think I can do this.’ I messed up a little bit because I was so nervous, but then it turned out great.”

‘You are going to squeak’

Now, Leila is full of confidence and great advice. Before graduating from Park Avenue, Muehlbauer asked students to leave behind words of encouragement for the next generation of band members. Leila’s message left a lasting impression:

“You are going to squeak. You are going to play the wrong note. But you are not going to fail. You’re not going to be perfect. You’re going to be just right.”

Since starting middle school, Leila’s had quite a few notable personal successes. Just this year, her own hovercraft design won her the aforementioned first-place STEM Fair prize, and she performed alongside her sister in “Shrek The Musical,” where they both played woodland creatures.