#489: Jennifer Simard // Part Two
The Hamilcast: A Hamilton Podcast
Gillian Pensavalle
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jennifer Simard is back for round two and I do not at all regret to inform you that this is now a First Wives Club fan podcast.
As she takes questions from the Patreon Peeps, Jennifer talks a lot about her process as Helen Sharp in Death Becomes Her, from respecting the source material without doing a Goldie Hawn impression to staying true to the story that is in front of her (the script on a Broadway stage as opposed to the movie from 1992). Jennifer also dives into the what she calls "the real nougaty center of comedy" which is, say it with me! Pain! Darkness! Tragedy! I mean, come on, that's where the good stuff is! Why? Because all of those things come back to the truth. Oh hey did you know betrayal therapy is a thing? It sure is, and if Jennifer wasn't a multi-faceted and unbelievably talented performer, she'd probably be studying that area of psychology.
Don't worry, we still have fun this week! Jennifer unabashedly loves television and talks about the people and shows she loves: Carol Burnett, Laverne and Shirley, Columbo (Peter Falk), Madeline Kahn, and an interesting tidbit about Carol Channing when she stopped by Forbidden Broadway in the nineties.
Jennifer Simard sings "You'll Be Back" as Hamilton's King George III
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Stage in Stages, Lynn Manuel Miranda, and you're listening to The Hamelcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Boots and cuts. |
| 0:06.0 | Boots and cuts. |
| 0:07.0 | Hello, friends. |
| 0:08.0 | Hello, friends. Hello friends, welcome back to the Hamiltcast. I'm Jillian, and this is the second half of my conversation with the fantastic Jennifer Samard. She is so busy, and yet she was so generous with her time. Seriously, last week's episode was absolutely packed. Jennifer told us her Hamilton story. She made a very compelling pitch for why she should play KG3. We fanned girl over Jonathan Groff. But actually, you know what? There's always time for that. And hey, if you're here for the death becomes her stories, don't worry because she gave you those too. Jennifer talked about her journey with the show from her very first reading. She told us how the famous stairfall was developed over so many weeks and months. We heard about the madness of Tony season, her third time being nominated, by the way. And then she talks about how important it is to take time off and recharge and how your time is more precious and valuable than the money you spend booking the vacation. So in other words, don't waste either one of those things, time or money on a subpar trip. Smart, talented, funny, and loves boundaries. Does it get any better? Well, kind of because you get a second episode. And we talk about |
| 1:11.4 | the first wives club. So please enjoy episode two with my friend, the truly wonderful Jennifer Samard. |
| 1:31.0 | Jennifer, are you ready? |
| 1:32.5 | Because I know we don't have a ton more time, |
| 1:35.3 | but are you ready to take some questions from the Patreon Peeps? |
| 1:36.7 | Because they're here and they love you. |
| 1:38.0 | Yeah, let's do it. |
| 1:38.9 | I'm super excited. |
| 1:41.7 | Patreon Peeps, Wonder Powers, activate. |
| 1:44.1 | Perfect. |
| 1:48.0 | If I were shockwave, this would be much more impressive. |
| 1:48.5 | Yeah. |
| 1:50.8 | And Patreon and Patreon peeps. Dear Alexander |
| 2:02.9 | Christy says |
| 2:07.9 | I saw death becomes her back in May |
| 2:10.0 | as soon as she sang her first note |
| 2:11.3 | I was obsessed. |
| 2:12.4 | Aw, thank you, Christy. |
... |
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