On The Scene: Simard Shines In SCHMIGADOON!
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“We’ve got tribulation in Schmigadoon.” Those lyrics ring out to the back of the Nederlander Theatre eight times a week as Mildred Layton sings with her townsfolk to criticize and protest Josh Skinner and Melissa Gimble…
But from my seat in the orchestra last week, I would say there is anything BUT tribulation now that Jennifer Simard has joined the company of Schmigadoon! Once it was announced that the fantastic and hilarious Ana Gasteyer would be departing the production, a show she was Tony-nominated for, I knew director Christoper Gatelli was going to deliver on her replacement, and boy did he do that in spades.
When news broke that Tony nominee Jennifer Simard would be assuming the role, the Broadway-sphere went wild. Fresh off a long run in Gatelli’s other Broadway comedy Death Becomes Her, it just makes sense that Simard would travel the five blocks down to the Nederlander and take up space in the former house of Rent and War Paint (!!).
I was in the audience for her first performance, and it was magical. A rousing applause started the minute she came out, which I expected seeing as folks showed up with Simard t-shirts and Simard buttons (who doesn’t love a button?)
The show was in peak form that night. Was it that fact that I spied Gatelli and writer (and Tony winner) Cinco Paul in the audience? I’m not sure, but it was one of those special performances where everyone was just ON it. And then came “Tribulation” late in Act II. Paul wrote a fast-paced patter son, a direct parody of “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man, that was originally performed by Kristen Chenoweth on Apple TV. Simard’s rendition is so vastly different from Chenoweth’s and Gasteyer’s, and thats the joy of seeing an exciting replacement casting come in. New choices, new inflections, all wonderful.
After Simard optioned up to a note that can only be described as insane? (positive connotation), the song received by far the loudest and longest applause for the night. A few other easter eggs were added to the show in Simard’s new track, but I will let you experience that for yourself.
Schmigadoon! has just recently extended through Sunday, April 4, 2027. If you haven’t seen the show yet, or even if you have, go back and give it another whirl. As a proponent of #PutSimardOn back from the Disaster days, us Simard fans are being fed.
Schmigadoon! is now in performances at the Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street in New York City.
