Saw her last week. She was excellent, just as expected. Dare I say better than Kerry Butler. Especially her Ms Norbury. She’s much more subtle and subdued than Kerry. Which makes her transition to Mrs George all the funnier. And she made that awful line about getting stabbed with an epi-pen not so cringeworthy. She stopped the show with her solo in “Do This Thing”
I saw Simard in the show recently as well, and far preferred her over Butler. Butler sped through a lot of the comedy (especially that Epi-Pen line; I never actually understood what she was saying). Simard milked the comedy, made Ms. Norbury less annoying, and shows off her vocals. Excellent replacement casting.
When Ms. Norbury is trying to break up the Burn Book riot, she runs into Duvall's office and interrupts his meeting with the Plastics to say, "I tried to break up a fight and one of 'em stabbed me in the leg with either an Epi-Pen...or one of those pens that has five colors. Either way, my heart is racing.”
I agree that Simmard does ‘milk’ her lines for all their worth. She seemed super comfortable and confident in the role and I think she’s equally if not better than Kerry. She’s brilliant as Reginas mom
Witnessing the evolution of casts is a fascinating process. In this case both Butler and Simard put their unique stamps on the characters - and unfair to compare them. Instead, just enjoy the variations.