At first glance, Sister Mary Downy seems to be a combination of Helen Reddy’s character from Airport 1975 (the nun who infamously serenaded the character played by Linda Blair) and the outlandish Letitia Primrose from On the Twentieth Century, who wishes salvation upon others, even if they have absolutely no desire for it. But as played by Jennifer Simard in Disaster!, the hilarity of Sister Mary Downy soon gives in to something more human, rather than being comedic relief (in an already hilarious show), she offers a lighthearted glimpse into the abyss. With her gambling problem, and faith crisis, we realize we laugh with Sister Mary Downy, because we see so much of her in us. It’s testament to Ms. Simard’s great skill as an actress, that she is able to make this all seem so effortless.

With credits in Broadway shows like Sister Act, Shrek the Musical and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Ms. Simard has slowly paved her way to becoming a great character actress. Having played Sister Mary Downy in both the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Disaster! it’s a marvel to see how she’s able to uncover new layers of the character in each incarnation. For what it’s worth, she gave the breakthrough performance of the 2015-2016 Broadway season. We had the opportunity to speak to her about her work in Disaster!, her interest in telling human stories, and we discovered her love of hard rock.

I’ve seen you play Mary Sister Downy Off-Broadway, and on Broadway, and you’re fantastic. While the characters in the show are mostly archetypes, as an actor you can’t play the character that way, so how do you find the humanity in a character within a genre parody?

As ever, you have to start with a primer coat, which in this case is the writing credited to Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, who invented this character and the idea that she had a gambling addiction. From there, there are things that developed over time that I added, and my friends and colleagues are such wonderful, secure people that they welcomed that kind of input, not only from myself but from all the other actors. I think Sister Mary Downy developed through the doing of it, it became clear after time that her pathos was very deep and layered. My friend and colleague Faith Prince and I talk about this all the time, how wonderful it is to investigate the push/pull of a character, the conflict, the humor. So much of the humor comes from the real, the dark side. That’s life, and most of us have little things inside that we wish we could change and that is my favorite thing about Sister Mary Downy, as it is in real people, the things we find less lovable about ourselves. It’s great fun to peel those layers every night and continuing to find new things.

Were there any specific performances in disaster movies that you studied to play Sister Mary Downy?

I grew up at a time when those movies were being introduced and a lot of those movies were rerun on HBO. I rented VHS tapes, so I actually saw these movies before this musical was written and they loomed large in my memory. My favorite as a kid was The Towering Inferno. I didn’t see it when it came out, as I was on the younger end, but I watched it on VHS. I did go back and rewatch it. I knew my character was loosely based - in appearance and also because she plays the guitar - on Helen Reddy in Airport 75. All those movies always had a nun.

Even though disaster movies are mostly thought of as camp today, they had such amazing casts, something that has been repeated on the musical, the cast is amazing.

I’ve been so lucky as an actor to work with some of the best in the business, both in the Off-Broadway incarnation, and now the Broadway production. Every person has added something indelible to the piece. I’m an actor who is trying to learn and get better every day, so it’s been an absolute joy to work with such seasoned professionals. This is important to note too, as they’re such adults, they have nothing to prove, there are no egos, and it is so much fun to come to work every day. It’s almost a contest to make each other laugh, not onstage, but we stand in the wings and watch each other and burst laughing; we laugh backstage. We’re having a game night at Kevin Chamberlin’s house in a couple of weeks...it’s just one of those times where you want to savor every moment because when it ends it will be quite sad.

You’ve been living with this character for quite some time now. You obviously know that you make people laugh, but after doing it every night and noticing the jokes that worked the night before land differently on this occasion, how are you able to keep the performance fresh?

I have a good friend, Jamison Stern, and we talk about this. He said to me once, “as a comedian you can have one hundred jokes a night. If you land 98 and not 100, you do mourn the other two, you mourn the ones you didn’t get” However with that said, it’s so important not to lose sight of the whole picture. My husband reminded me of this quote which I have written on my mirror in my dressing room, “don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good”. You have to live in the moment. Kevin Chamberlin and I have talked about how comedy is such a delicate creature. It’s like chaos theory from Jurassic Park (laughs). If someone moves differently, if someone says something differently, it can have a ripple effect and the whole scene inexplicably shifts.

I think the thing you have to do as an actor is try to be open to that shift, and in that you might find something new. You also have a great responsibility as a teammate onstage, and you have to set one another up. You throw a big fat slow pitch across the plate, so your partner can hit it out of the park. You have to be generous, and luckily this group of people understands that. Sometimes when things don’t work it’s because something has shifted. We joke about it backstage hoping we could stop the show and do something again, but we have to move on and not get caught up in the minutiae, or the pressure of getting caught up in people’s expectations. We’re only human beings out there, and some nights are better than others.

One of my favorite character actors is Barbara Barrie and someone told me she was credited with saying “you always have to have your second best performance in your back pocket”, I’ve been carrying that with me for twenty years. You have to try, even though it’s not always going to be a home run.

I read that you had worked with a nun who was not very nice once, and considering you were also in Sister Act, I wondered if you’re attracted to these characters in trying to understand this woman more, perhaps develop empathy for her?

Oh no, I had empathy for her at the time! It was a terrible position she was put in. I don’t think she disliked me as much as the situation. She had a good thing going…(laughs). I was raised Catholic, I’ve been surrounded by nuns my entire life. Strangely enough with the loss of my Mother, it makes me feel closer to that upbringing. I feel very lucky that I get to play a nun right now. It’s kind of healing for my personal life.

I’m sorry about your Mom, and Disaster! reminds me of mine because I grew up listening to her singing all those disco tunes. So I wonder which songs from that era would you like to sing, whether in character or elsewhere?

Let me say that I feel so lucky to sing what I sing in the show. So thank you Clifton Davis for writing “Never Can Say Goodbye”. I have to say that my favorite music from the 70s would be the hard rock bands. I love Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, and I think they sometimes get pushed aside, sorta like comedy does, as not having as much respect for their musical attributes as say something classical, or in the case of theatre more dramatic. I challenge that. You should go listen to the music and the lyrics, to me it’s poetry. I specifically cite “Dream On” from Aerosmith. Steven Tyler wrote that at 24 years old. If you read the lyrics like a poem it’s beautiful. They did a version with the London Symphony Orchestra that’s a perfect marriage of classical and rock. I’ve been thinking for some time now that I should make a cabaret show, an evening of rock with all my women friends, but singing songs made famous by men. But all rock, just heavy metal with a bunch of Broadway heavy-hitting women! (Laughs)

What are three Stephen Sondheim roles you’d love to play, and some of his songs you love to sing?

My favorite Sondheim song would have to be “Being Alive”. As for roles, number one would be the one that has yet to be written (laughs), the role he’ll write for me! Yay! Number two and three would be the Baker’s Wife and the Witch from Into the Woods, because that show means a great deal to me. It was the first Broadway musical I ever saw. My Mom took me for my birthday, and little did I know then that my first Broadway credit, which was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, would be directed by James Lapine who directed and co-wrote Into the Woods. I just can’t believe that Mr. Lapine is in my life now, he’s someone I respect, admire and love, and back then I would’ve never guessed that he’d be my Broadway debut director. I have never had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Sondheim, but that would be amazing because again, this was the first show I saw with my late beloved Mother. So I hope Mr. Sondheim comes to see Disaster! because I’d love to make him laugh.

Disaster! is now playing on Broadway.