For Jennifer Simard, playing dead never felt so good.
The actress is currently starring in Broadway’s latest screen-to-stage musical adaptation “Death Becomes Her” at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Simard stars as Helen Sharp, the role originated by Goldie Hawn, alongside Megan Hilty who plays Madeline Ashton, the role originated by Meryl Streep.
“Death Becomes Her” follows the women over the course of several decades. After years of rivalry and a stint in a psychiatric ward, Sharp sets out to get revenge on Ashton for stealing her fiancé, while Ashton seeks the secret to lasting youth. To achieve their goals, both end up taking a potion that promises youthful beauty and eternal life, ultimately leaving them to spend eternity together. Hilarity ensues, particularly after the women try to kill each other leaving them with mangled bodies.
While Simard got involved with the musical comedy in 2022 after starring in “Company” on Broadway, her history with “Death Becomes Her” dates back to the film’s release in the summer of 1992.
“I was in Manchester, New Hampshire, and I had a ticket to go see the movie, and the theater had a fire, so of course, I wasn’t able to attend at that time,” she recalls. “I held on to this unused ticket for years…for decades.”
The irony doesn’t escape her. Not only did she keep the ticket for years — though she’s been unable to track it down since starting the show — her character is left with a gunshot wound surrounded by embers, a bit like the fire at the movie theater.
“I love the syzygy of that,” she says, noting that this wound is thoughtfully represented in one of her costumes via a “bejeweled hole,” designed by Paul Tazewell.
Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard in “Death Becomes Her.”
Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Although she didn’t get to see the film that evening, she eventually did and fell in love. Since starting her journey with the Broadway production, Simard has rewatched the film for a refresh — just once though.
“I haven’t watched it since because I didn’t want to do an impression,” she says. “The film is brilliant source material and a brilliant blueprint, but anything for stage has to be done slightly differently.”
Like the movie, the camp-y comedy comes first via punchy songs, fight scenes and a bit of over-the-top drama, as the two women try to outdo each other.
“The writers have been very clever about making sure that just when there’s a heartfelt thing in the show, we make it funny and vice versa,” she says.
Aside from the comedy, one aspect of the film did stick with Simard: Hawn’s and Streep’s strong friendship. Many attribute the success of the film to the duo’s on- and off-screen chemistry. Simard and Hilty have aimed to emulate this closeness, particularly during their preview run in Chicago.
“We went out for a pancake breakfast, and it was a comedy of errors, because every place that we went to was packed with a line out the door. We ended up having pancakes delivered to the theater,” Simard recalls of one particular bonding moment. “It took four hours to get these pancakes, but we were so determined. We just thought that was hysterical.”
As Hawn and Streep have, Simard predicts she and Hilty will be lifelong friends after this experience.
“I hope that we have a decades long friendship after this, and I hope we do many more projects together,” she says.
Alongside this relationship, Simard also loves where the musical lands. While at the start it may seem like a rivalry over some man, the story is ultimately about the two women’s friendship, something Simard hopes audiences really take away.
Jennifer Simard in “Death Becomes Her.”
Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
“It is clear that the women get the last word. It’s very rare that you see women buddy films, so to speak, and certainly women buddy shows on Broadway. What I love is that the love story and the finding of your person is about their friendship. It’s not about finding a man to complete you, and I think a lot of women need to hear that,” she says. “Being single is OK, folks.”
Hawn and Streep, who are still good friends to this day, have yet to see the production, but Simard says it’s her “understanding they will,” and she’s not intimidated by the idea of it.
“I am not nervous at all at their coming. I am excited at the notion. They’re the blueprints. They are Madeline and Helen,” she says. “I just am happy to be a part of the chapter in the book of ‘Death Becomes Her.’ I hold it in high regard and high esteem.”
Although Simard is swamped with eight shows a week, she’s made time for other passions, most notably as the cohost of “The Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast.” When asked which Golden Girl would most identify with Sharp, Simard emphatically answered Bea Arthur’s character Dorothy Zbornak without a second thought.
“She’s very intelligent, very bookish,” Simard says. “I always say that if Helen had a backstory, she’s a New York Times crossword completing person, very dry sense of humor, just like Dorothy.”
