OUtstanding Alumni: Mary Millben

Mary Millben, '06, as Nina in her most recent stage performance.

A native Oklahoman, Mary received her training at the University of Oklahoma--Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Weitzenhoffer Department of Musical Theater and a minor in political science. Also, while at OU, she served as president of the University of Oklahoma Student Association.

She is currently starring in 'S Wonderful Gershwin Tunes at Westchester Broadway Theatre through March 25th.  A review from Woman Around Town states, "Mary Millben has the unenviable task of singing the Porgy and Bess numbers. She can belt with the best of them, and as Nina, makes New Orleans in 1957 really sizzle. I’d also kill for the spangled dress she wears so well. The audience cheers after every song she sings."

Mary was a Helen Hayes Award nominee, a former White House intern and White House presidential appointee.  She has been a featured soloist at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and stages across the globe. A coloratura soprano, a concert violinist and semi-fluent in Mandarin, Mary has been a featured soloist for events hosted by and/or hosting President Barack Obama & the First Family, President George W. Bush & the First Family, the Honorable Queen Nor, Bill Cosby, Maya Angelou and others.

Last December, Mary was invited by the Office of the First Lady to sing for the White House Holiday Season as a featured soloist. Invited by NAACP Chairwoman Roslyn Brock, Mary was a featured, guest soloist for the 102nd NAACP National Convention in Los Angeles this past summer. In the summer of 2010, Mary starred in Sophisticated Ladies alongside Broadway legend Maurice Hines at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington D.C. In 2009, Mary was a guest soloist for the inauguration of The Honorable Barbara Lee (D-California) at the Congressional Black Caucus Ceremonial Swearing-In at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., a chorister for the 2009 Obama Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert, and backup singer for the XLIII Super Bowl halftime show with Bruce Springsteen. She sang in the Barbra Streisand tribute at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors and was a soloist in the 2008 National Symphony Orchestra Pops concert under the direction of the legendary film and Broadway composer Marvin Hamlisch.  Mary was invited by former First Lady Laura Bush as a guest soloist for the 2008 and 2009 White House Holiday Season.

Member of the Actor’s Equity Association and the Screen Actor’s Guild. Mary is represented by the prestigious New York agency Harden-Curtis Associates.