Verity Hunt-Ballard is an Australian actress and singer, best known for roles in musical theatre. Hunt-Ballard was born in Mt Gambier, South Australia and raised in Largs Bay. Her Northern Ireland-born father was a social worker and music therapist, and her mother a primary school teacher. She studied at the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a performing arts school in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1980, it is notable for being the most comprehensive performing arts school in Aus ...

, graduating in 2003. Early roles include the casts of the musicals ''

Eureka Eureka often refers to: * Eureka (word), a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes * Eureka effect, the sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem Eureka or Ureka may also refer to: History * Eureka Rebellion, an 1854 g ...

'' (2004), ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

'' and ''

Metro Street ''Metro Street'' is an original Australian musical with book, music and lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson. It was awarded the Pratt Prize for Music Theatre in 2004, and went through many workshops and readings, including at the Adelaide Cabaret F ...

'' (2009). Hunt-Ballard is best known for performing the title roles in the original Australian cast of ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'' (2010) and the

Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theatre is a 111-seat theatre specialising in music theatre and cabaret in Potts Point, Sydney, Australia. It is named after the Australian performer Nancye Hayes. Hayes Theatre Co was established at the former ''Darlinghurst Theatre' ...

revival of ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film '' Nights of Cabiria''. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse sta ...

'' (2014). For each role, she received the

Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical Sir Robert Murray Helpmann (né Helpman) (9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (no ...

.She also performed in ''Vivid White (''2017), and ''Funny Girl in Concert at The Opera House (''2018). She has a daughter Emmy-Lou with a partner, actor Scott Johnson.

References

Living people Australian musical theatre actresses Helpmann Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-artist-stub