Jennifer Simard

Jennifer Jean Simard, born August 8, 1970, in Litchfield, New Hampshire, is an American actress whose career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and film. She studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and Hunter College before relocating to New York, where she made an early stage appearance in Forbidden Broadway '93. Her Broadway debut came in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and she subsequently appeared in Shrek The Musical and Sister Act.

Prior to her Broadway breakthrough, Simard built a substantial Off-Broadway profile. Her work in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, The Thing About Men, and Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit earned her Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She also received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit. She met her future husband, Brad Robertson, while performing in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, where he served as the light board operator; the two married on October 3, 2004, and divorced in 2024.

Simard originated the role of Sister Mary Downey in Disaster!, first performing the role Off-Broadway in 2014 before the production transferred to Broadway in 2016. The performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and a Drama League Award nomination. She appeared as Ernestina in the 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which starred Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. In the summer of 2018, she played Miss Hannigan in the St. Louis Muny production of Annie, running July 18 through July 25. That September, she joined the Broadway cast of Mean Girls, taking over the roles of Mrs. Heron, Ms. Norbury, and Mrs. George from Kerry Butler, with her final performance on December 8, 2019.

In October 2019, Simard was announced as part of the gender-swapped Broadway revival of Company, playing Sarah at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. After the production was interrupted by the pandemic, she returned to the cast and performed the role through 2022. During the run, between February 26 and March 6, 2022, she assumed the role of Joanne due to Patti LuPone's unavailability. Her work in Company earned her a second Tony Award nomination, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, at the 75th Tony Awards. In 2023, she originated the role of Stepmother in Once Upon a One More Time, the Britney Spears jukebox musical, at the Marquis Theatre.

Simard's most prominent stage role to date is Helen Sharp in the Broadway adaptation of Death Becomes Her, opposite Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton. The production held an out-of-town tryout at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre from April 30 to June 2, 2024, before beginning Broadway previews on October 23, 2024, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and opening on November 21, 2024. The role brought Simard her third Tony Award nomination, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, in 2025.

Beyond the stage, Simard has appeared on television in Younger, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Good Wife, Girls5eva, and The King of Queens, and on film in the 2000 comedy The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. Her Broadway career spans 2005 through 2024, encompassing leading and featured roles across musicals of varied styles and scales.