Down the Rabbit Hole: DEATH BECOMES HER's Jennifer Simard 

There are scenestealers—and then there’s Jennifer Simard, for whom the term doesn’t quite do justice at this point. With nine Broadway credits to her name—the latest of which in Death Becomes Her earned her a 2025 Tony Award nomination—Simard has become so synonymous with balls-to-the-wall musical comedy, her skill as a comedian can feel taken for granted. For that reason, we are taking a walk down memory lane—er, a dive deep down the rabbit hole through some of Simard’s most memorable scenery-devouring hilarity. 

DEATH BECOMES HER 

Obviously, we’ll start with the role in which Simard is currently tearing eight times a week: Helen in Death Becomes Her, for which she earned her third Tony nomination. Starring opposite Megan Hilty, the two make for an old-school comic pairing a la Broderick and Lane—except with cleavage. There are a number of clips and performances from the show available online, but going with this Tony broadcast moment feels right. How many people can say they got a laugh on national television without saying a word? 

ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME

Only in Simard’s hands could Britney Spears’ “Toxic” be somehow both menacing and utterly hysterical (and, yep, a little sexy). But that’s why you cast Simard in the first place: to find the funny in the most subversive, unexpected of places. And we can all agree, a hilarious evil stepmother with a flare for aughts pop certainly qualifies as unexpected. 

COMPANY

We probably didn’t deserve Marianne Elliot’s gender-swapped revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company—but we definitely did not deserve Simard’s Act 1 vignette in which she ate brownies off the floor. This moment is not available via any kosher streaming means. So… you definitely have… no way… to ever see it. 

KING GEORGE AUDITION

Still waiting on the first woman-as-King-George casting in Hamilton! And when that day does finally come, the below clip, while clearly driven by pandemic lockdown kookiness, should genuinely be considered Simard’s audition. 

DISASTER! 

Remember #PutSimardOn? If you’re under the age of 25, you don’t! The hashtag went semi-viral in 2016 as part of a campaign to have Simard perform from her Tony-nominated role in Disaster! at that year’s Tony Awards. If you saw the musical, you’d understand why there was such outrage—and if you didn’t see the show, thank God we have this clip below. 

SHREK THE MUSICAL 

Simard is basically the embodiment of the ol’ showbiz adage: there are no small parts, only small actors. Consider her role in Shrek the Musical, in which she portrayed multiple minor characters, each of which with bigger-than-the-moon energy. And bless whatever Simard-loving soul pieced together this best-of montage.