Mary Millben Informations

Mary Millben (born Mary Jorie Millben) is an American singer and actress. Millben is a 2010 Helen Hayes Award Nominee, has performed in theatre across the country and been a featured soloist at the White House, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Major League Baseball, Off-Broadway, and headlined solo concerts at popular New York venues including Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, The City Winery and The Cutting Room.

Millben has had the honor to perform for three consecutive U.S. Presidents including the 43rd President George W. Bush, the 44th President Barack Obama, and for the 58th Presidential Inauguration Victory Celebration of the 45th President of the United States of America - President Donald J. Trump.

In addition, Millben has been a featured soloist for notable world leaders including Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Her Royal Highness Princess Basmah Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz, His Royal Highness Prince Dimitrije "Dimitri" Karadordevic of Yugoslavia, Oprah Winfrey, Canadian business magnate Jim Pattison.

Recorded and produced with three-time Grammy/six-time Emmy nominated country music songwriter and 2018 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee Steve Dorff, Millben continues to celebrate the worldwide release and success of her first, commercially released singles “Grace Will Lead Me Home,”and “Faith in Love.”

Millben made her national television debut performing her first single "Grace Will Lead Me Home" on BET's inspirational show A Joyful Noise. Making her first song debut in motion picture, “Grace Will Lead Me Home” is the closing song in the new film The Meanest Man in Texas directed by Justin Ward, and produced by award-winning producers Brad Wilson and Casey Bond.  Premiering in film festivals all over the United States 2017-2018, the film has garnered over 40 awards and nominations. "Grace Will Lead Me Home" was nominated for 'Best Song' in the 2017 Nashville Film Festival. The Meanest Man in Texas and “Grace Will Lead Me Home” release in theaters 2019.  “Grace Will Lead Me Home” and “Faith in Love” are available on all leading digital platforms worldwide.

Millben was born and grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the daughter of Rev. Michael Millben, a Baptist and Pentecostal minister. Her mother, Rev. Althea Millben is a classically-trained soprano and a retired Pentecostal music pastor. Millben started singing at the age of five in the children's choir at Wildewood Christian Church in Oklahoma City. Her parents divorced in 1987 and Millben was raised by her mother.

Millben attended Putnam City High School. She was a presidential candidate at the 1999 American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation and Oklahoma Girls State conferences, and the Oklahoma delegate at the 1998 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) World Congress in Washington, D.C. Millben received the State of Oklahoma Commemoration Award for excellence and achievement in leadership as a student leader in 1999.

Millben studied opera at the University of Oklahoma (OU) under tenor Don Bernardini. She performed in OU student productions; she was a member of the ensemble in Guys and Dolls and Good News in 2002, played the role of Mama Maddelena in Nine, Chanteuse in Cabaret, and Josephine Strong in Urinetown. In 2002, she also edited and co-authored the OU Press book What Possibilities, a Guide to Opportunities and Traditions, detailing the history and traditions of the University of Oklahoma.

Governing over 30,000 students Millben was elected the second OU African-American female Student Body President in 2004 and the first OU African-American female Vice-President in 2003. She was one of four who represented the University at the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement at Harvard University in 2004 and, appointed by U.S. Congressman Tom Cole, was an Oklahoma delegate to the 2006 African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. - a national conference organized to bring together government leaders and prominent African Americans around the country to discuss policy, strengthen collective efforts and expand leadership roles for African Americans in the American politics.

Millben graduated from OU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Performance and a minor in Political Science. She then participated in the University's Journey to China Summer Program, studying Mandarin and Chinese culture at Xi'an International Studies University, Yunnan University in Kunming, Peking University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai.

While serving in student leadership, Mary was a featured singer for OU dinners and private events hosted by former Oklahoma U.S. Senator, Governor and President of the University of Oklahoma, David L. Boren. As a professional student, Millben served the state of Oklahoma at an early age working for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Crowe and Dunlevy Law Firm, served as an intern to President David L Boren, and later Press Secretary and Director of Communications for the Oklahoma Republican Party under former Chairman Gary Jones.

In 2005, Millben worked as a summer White House intern for President George W. Bush and as a White House presidential appointee for President George W. Bush from September 2006 to January 2009.

In 2008-2009, Millben took part in local community theatre in the Washington Metropolitan area, playing the lead role of Patience in Patience with the Georgetown University Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Kate in Pirates of Penzance with the Washington Savoyards and Rosemary in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale with American Century Theater.

Furthermore, Mary was a background vocalist in the Barbra Streisand tribute at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors and a soloist in the 2008 National Symphony Orchestra Pops conducted by the late Marvin Hamlisch. Millben was invited by former First Lady Laura Bush as a guest soloist for the 2008 White House Holiday Season.

In 2009, Millben left the government and accepted the role of Wanda in an equity show, Crowns, at Arena Stage. The show premiered at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington D.C. April 2009. Beginning fall 2009, Millben performed the role of Dee in the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences six-month tour of Chasing George Washington, written by playwright Karen Zacharias.

Millben was a guest soloist, with Grammy Award winner Tramaine Hawkins, 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 back-up singer for Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce in the 2009 “We are One” Obama Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert, and backup singer for the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show with Bruce Springsteen.

In 2010, Millben was hired as an understudy and went on to co-star alongside Broadway legend Maurice Hines in Sophisticated Ladies with Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington D.C. Millben performed alongside Bill Cosby at the 2010 Best of Black Business Awards ceremony. She starred as Sister Pauletta Denise Jones in the Washington D.C. 2010 premiere of a new musical, Sanctified. A review in the Washington Examiner praised her strong soprano voice.

In 2011-2012, Millben was the soloist for the 102nd NAACP National Convention in Los Angeles, California, and at the Fame-Wall/Actor's Fund New York fundraiser. In December 2011, she sang for the Obama White House Holiday Season as a featured soloist. In 2012, she was a guest soloist for the 2012 Theatre World Awards reception, and a featured soloist for President Barack Obama and campaign supporters at a private campaign event held in McLean, VA.

In March 2012, she made her New York theatre debut at the Westchester Broadway Theatre starring as Nina Mae McKinney in Ray Roderick's Gershwin musical ‘S Wonderful. That summer Millben completed her first demo recording titled, “Introducing Mary Millben.” She was the featured soloist for President Barack Obama at the George Mason University rally in Fairfax, Virginia on Oct. 5th, 2012.

In 2013, Millben headlined a solo concert for Europe's celebration of Black History Month in Zagreb, Croatia hosted by Kenneth H. Merten, former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, and the U.S. Embassy Zagreb at the VIP Club.. At the end of the year, Millben was the headliner for the 2013 Copacabana ‘Broadway Royale’ New Year's Eve Show in New York.

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