Verity Hunt-Ballard from Adelaide has won the most hotly contested role in Australian theatre. She will play the world's best loved nanny in the world's Supercalifragilistic musical, MARY POPPINS, opening at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne in July.
Producer, Cameron Mackintosh said today from London "After the most exhaustive search for a performer I have undertaken in the 30 years I have been bringing my productions to Australia,
I am thrilled to announce that we have finally chosen our Mary Poppins - Verity Hunt-Ballard
who will star opposite Matt Lee's Bert."
"Verity flew from Melbourne to Amsterdam on the weekend for her final audition for the production team, where we are all preparing the Dutch production which opens in a few weeks."
"Verity gave a tremendous audition - witty, charming, self-assured, with her own impish sense of fun. She is unlike any other of the hundreds of girls we have seen and is indeed
Practically Perfect in every way."
The director of the show Richard Eyre added "We are thrilled we have found an exciting Australian
Mary Poppins, who is so attractive, charming and witty." "Verity matches the talents of the rest of our outstanding Australian cast" Producer Thomas Schumacher said today from New York "All the waiting has paid off - we have finally found the Mary that Australia deserves!"
"Even after having cast this role for London, New York and Holland, it still amazes us how truly difficult it is to find that one extraordinary actress who can meet the demands of this singular role and bring Mary to life."
"Verity, who is coincidentally the same age that Julie Andrews was when she made the film,
delivers on every possible level and simply stole our hearts away. I have no doubt she will do the
same for Australian audiences when they finally get to see her."
Verity arrived back in Melbourne last night overjoyed and said "Like Mary Poppins, my feet haven't touched ground, since I received the news."
Verity is currently playing Frankie Valli's lover, in Jersey Boys. A 2003 WAAPA graduate, Verity
has performed in The Rocky Horror Show, South Pacific, Eureka and Oklahoma! and won the ATG Curtain Call Award for her role in the acclaimed Australian musical Metro Street.
MARY POPPINS goes into rehearsal in Melbourne in May when Verity will joins the musical's nine other Principals: Matt Lee, as Bert, Philip Quast as Mr George Banks, Marina Prior as Mrs Winifred Banks, Sally Anne Upton as Mrs Brill, Christopher Rickerby as Robertson Ay, David Henry as Admiral Boom, Judi Connelli as Miss Andrew and Debra Byrne as The Bird Woman.
Auditions for the children's roles were held in January and a casting announcement will be made shortly.
In Los Angeles on November 15 Cameron Mackintosh, Thomas Schumacher and Richard Eyre announced that they had cast eight of the nine adult Principal roles. The 25 members of
the ensemble had also been chosen. But although more than 650 performers auditioned in Melbourne and Sydney the part of Mary Poppins remained unfilled. The search for "practically perfect" Mary continued in five capitals in Australia, in three New Zealand cities and in London, for Australians working in the West End. This time more than 400 would-be Mary Poppins auditioned.
MARY POPPINS the stage musical features the Academy Award®-winning music and lyrics of
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The stage production has been created, in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, by screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who wrote the book, and George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who composed new songs and additional music and lyrics.
