Pop Culturalist Chats with Jennifer Simard

Tony Award nominee. Drama Desk nominee. Lucille Lortel award nominee. Jennifer Simard’s talent is undeniable. She’s graced the stage as unforgettable characters like Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Ernestina in Hello Dolly!, and Sister Mary Downy in Disaster! Currently, she can be seen as Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George/Mrs. Heron in Mean Girls.

Another way you can see her in action? Catch her solo show, Stigma, at The Green Room 42 in New York. We chatted with her about the show and what inspired her to create it.

PC: What inspired you to create your show?
Jennifer: For as long as I can remember people have been asking me, “Hey Jen, do you want to do a cabaret show?” To be honest with you, while I enjoy seeing friends and people I admire doing them, it just was never a form or genre that spoke to me. I wasn’t passionate about doing myself. I always said I would never do one unless I really really wanted to because it’s a lot of investment of time and energy. You’re really putting yourself out there. I think I was waiting until I had something that I was really excited to say. So, all of a sudden, I got really inspired to do it.

I think I was inspired by a few things. There’s this meme that has gone around that I really like [that says], “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind, always.” And it occurred to me that people I know love and respect, myself included, throw around the word “crazy” quite a bit to describe the people we love, and I think everything is a “thing” these days. It struck me as interesting. Sometimes when people use that world, they don’t always mean it in the nicest way. “That persons crazy” And I thought “Hold on!” I thought it deserved unpacking because crazy is a real thing. It gave me pause. I thought, “Ok, who and how many times have you called that word?” And I did a self-account first. And I’m sure it’s been said about me.

I think my show, while I do it at a room that can be considered a cabaret space, is a little more performance art. It’s a bit the anti-cabaret cabaret. I think it would play well in a theater space as well. The Green Room 42 has treated me like a princess and taken such good care of me. It’s a really good venue for my show. They have cubbies spray painted with graffiti, and my show is truly about 85% rock ‘n’ roll and alternative music which lends itself to a bit more of an edgier space.

PC: When you were putting your show together, how did you decide what pieces you wanted to perform and what you wanted to include?
Jennifer: I knew what I wanted thematically to say. The songs and patter that I chose were around that theme. Then, I wanted to sing songs that I love to sing, and, typically, they’re more rock’n’roll based. In musical comedy I don’t always get the chance to sing that way, but that is music that inspires me. And then I chose songs that were thematic to my thesis.

While I do use anecdotes about my own life that I think are very funny, they bleed in to the songs in a really cohesive way and do create an arc that is universal for most people. And that’s the whole point—it has to be something people can find a nugget of in their own lives even if they don’t 100% identify. That is the goal in well-done cabaret: to make sure it’s universal enough to the audience to be relatable and interesting.

PC: Have you changed anything in your show since it has debuted?
Jennifer: First of all, I have to tweak it because it’s a different time of the year; certain things will change. I think the last time I did it on a Sunday, and this one is on a Monday. I have a specific joke that’s related to Sundays so I have to tweak that. I’m actually thinking of cutting the patter in a segment and going into a song right away.

I was really pleased with how the last show went. I will say with the first section…I had rewritten it over five times so the one slip I had in the night focused on that section because I rewrote it so much. And, the fact of the matter is because I’m doing Mean Girls eight times a week, I’d like to memorize it like last time, but I would hate to take three steps forward by rewriting sections and two steps back because I can’t remember what I wrote [laughs].

At the end of the night last time, though, I remember pulling out this John Steinbeck quote [because of a slip-up]. The rest of the night had been perfect. [So] I said, “Oh, hey, thanks for loving me at the beginning of the night when I forgot that small part. It sort of goes with the theme of the night and goes with that John Steinbeck quote, ‘Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.'” Then I had a friend write me, Todd Murray who is an exceptional cabaret artist, and he said, “Jen, what is that quote because it spoke to me.” I said, “Isn’t it funny that you just gave me such a huge gift. Had I not made a mistake, I would not have pulled that out of the old memory bank.” And that’s actually the thing he got the most out of–the mistake was actually the gift.

PC: How has juggling Mean Girls with Stigma schedule been?
Jennifer: The word grateful has been thrown around a lot, and it’s become the butt of a lot of jokes. When people say “#grateful.” But the truth is that’s the appropriate word because that’s what I am. I have been treated so well at Mean Girls so every day is really a joy. That’s my primer coat of my life. That’s number 1.

Number 2 is my show Stigma. It’s something I front-loaded in the spring and summer months because I did not know that Mean Girls was going to happen, but I knew that something in my industry is always unexpected. So, in that sense, I’m so glad I planned everything in the negative space without the promise of a new job because had I not, I would have never had the time to do it. The only reason I can do it two more times before New Year’s is because it’s in the can.

Lastly, this podcast I’m doing, The Fabulous Invalid, is really great about working around my schedule.

And, finally, I think most people would agree, you have to carve out time to refill the tank because if you don’t, you get out of balance and everything suffers. I try to find moments of balance that are just for me.

PC: In planning your show, did you find it more challenging to pull something together rather than just being a cast member in a production?
Jennifer: I did find it more challenging because you are a producer; I also choreographed the show. It was a little bit like that wonderful play The Play That Goes Wrong. When you do your own cabaret show, you’re a producer, you write it, you organize rehearsals, you write all the checks to the band, and you want to make sure they’re treated well. It’s definitely more pressure.

PC: You mentioned you have a podcast. You obviously have this show. You have Mean Girls. Is there something you haven’t done that you still hope to do in the future?
Jennifer: I love film and television. I’ve been lucky enough to do both. I lived in LA for a short period of time, and I’ve been fortunate to get things filming in New York City. I’d also love to write more. I have a children’s picture book that I finally want to finish. One thing that I do find, when I live spherically in many directions I am a happier person—instead of putting all my eggs in one basket. Creativity can have many outlets. So, I’d like to perform more on film and to write more and create my own materials. It’s a luxury because you have to pay bills. If I could do well enough to sustain my passions, that would be ideal.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Last TV Show You Binge Watched
The Staircase

Favorite Movie
I have so many I absolutely love! But because I”m excited about the Broadway play that is coming, I’m going to say Network.

Favorite Book
The Tale of Two Cities

Favorite Play or Musical
Shakespeare’s As You Like It

Artist or Musician You Could Listen to on Repeat
Prince

Place You Most Want to Visit
It used to be Egypt, but I was lucky enough to go there! So now…perhaps Fiji.

Person You Would Most Like to Meet
Just because I admire him so much right now: LeBron James.

Learn more about Jennifer Simard’s show, Stigma, at The Green Room 42 by clicking here. To stay up-to-date with Jennifer, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.