Verity Hunt-Ballard

{{Short description|Australian actress and singer}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/poppins-star-and-adelaide-verity-hunt-ballard-wins-top-helpmann-award/news-story/4a6e0828403c78e2778a066d0d06a6ad?sv=a8b8c16ad17d6c4a06bc84f4df11fd37|title=SA star wins top Helpmann Award|last=McDonald|first=Patrick|date=1 August 2011|work=The Advertiser|access-date=29 July 2017}} Her Northern Ireland-born father was a social worker and music therapist, and her mother a primary school teacher.{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/musicals/lunch-with-verity-huntballard-20150210-1397b3.html|title=Lunch with Verity Hunt-Ballard|last=Dunn|first=Amanda|date=2015-02-13|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2017-07-29|language=en-US}}

She studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2003. Early roles include the casts of the musicals Eureka (2004), Jersey Boys and Metro Street (2009).

Hunt-Ballard is best known for performing the title roles in the original Australian cast of Mary Poppins (2010) and the Hayes Theatre revival of Sweet Charity (2014). For each role, she received the Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical.She also performed in Vivid White (2017) ,and Funny Girl in Concert at The Opera House (2018).{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-03-12 |title=Verity Hunt-Ballard |url=https://www.victorianopera.com.au/meet-the-artists/verity-hunt-ballard |access-date=2022-11-12 |website=Victorian Opera |language=en}}

She has a daughter Emmy-Lou with a partner, actor Scott Johnson.