Mary Mellish (1890 – 30 January 1955, Albany) was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress. She sang six seasons with the Metropolitan Opera from 1918-1924. In 1925 she originated the role of Catherine the Great in Harry B. Smith's Broadway musical Natja

Marry Mellish was born Mary Flannery in Albany, New York in 1890.^[1] She was educated at St. John's Academy in her native city. There she began her initial musical training as a pianist.^[2] She married Jay A Mellish in Manhattan on 28 April 1909.^[3] They remained married until her husband was killed in a fire in November 1927.^[4]

Mellish was trained as a vocalist at the Von Ende School of Music on 85th St in New York City where she was a pupil Adrienne Remenyi Von Ende (daughter of the violinist and composer Ede Reményi).^[5] She later studied singing in New York City with Estelle Liebling,^[6] and German lieder with composer and pianist Richard Epstein (1869-1919).^[7]

Mellish sang with the Oratorio Society of New York prior to her career as a soloist.^[2] She gave her first performance at Carnegie Hall in March 1919, performing Musetta's Waltz, "Quando me'n vo'", from La Bohème.^[8] In 1920 she gave a song recital at Aeolian Hall that included arias by George Frideric Handel, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.^[9] In 1922 she was the soprano soloist in a concert of opera arias with the City Symphony Orchestra at the Century Theatre.^[10]

Mellish was committed to the Metropolitan Opera from 1918-1924 where she sang a total of 20 different roles across 107 performances at the Metropolitan Opera House on 39th st.^[1] She made her debut at the Met as Xenia in Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov on 25 November 1918 with Adamo Didur in the title role and Gennaro Papi conducting.^[11] At the Met she sang the role of the Second Youth in the United States premiere of La reine Fiammette by Xavier Leroux,^[12] and created the role of Happiness in the world premiere of Albert Wolff's L'oiseau bleu on 27 December 1919.^[13]

While Mellish mainly specialized in comprimario parts,^[14] on occasion she sang larger roles such as the title part in The Golden Cockerel which she performed at the Met on March 29, 1924.^[1] Other roles she sang at the Met included Nella in Gianni Schicchi, a high school girl in Shanewis, the handmaiden in L'amore dei tre re, Frasquita in Carmen, Dolcina in Suor Angelica, a choirboy in Le Prophète, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, a flower maiden in Parsifal, Javotte in Manon, Marguerite in Louise, a page in Lohengrin, Helmwige in Die Walküre, and Musetta in La Bohème.^[15] Her final performance on the Met stage was at a gala concert on April 6, 1924 in which she performed Micaela's aria, "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante", from Carmen.^[15]

In 1925 Mellish originated the role of Catherine the Great in Harry B. Smith's Broadway musical Natja which ran at the Knickerbocker Theatre.^[16] In 1929 she was committed to the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company; performing Puccini's Musetta.^[17]

In 1941 Mellish's autobiography, A Singer's Life: Sometime I Reminisce, was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.^[18] Her second husband, William Boyce Eakin, died in 1951.^[1]

Mellish died on 30 January 1955 in Albany, New York.^[1][19]

• Mellish, Mary Flannery (1941). A Singer's Life: Sometimes I Reminisce. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
• Franceschina, John (2004). Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135949082.
• Villamil, Victoria Etnier (2004). From Johnson's Kids to Lemonade Opera: The American Classical Singer Comes of Age. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 9781555536350.

• Mary Mellish at the Internet Broadway Database