What Broadway Star Jennifer Simard Refuses to Fly Without
The 'Death Becomes Her' lead reveals her best packing tips and why she has a fear of flying.
In this edition singer, actress, and two-time Tony nominee Jennifer Simard, talks to Annie Harrigan about her scariest travel experience, packing smarter, and what she's been reading on flights. She’s currently starring as Helen Sharp in the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her, based on the film of the same name.
I was in an emergency landing situation once, so I do have a bit of a fear of flying. I think you can still find an article about it, actually. I was traveling home from the out-of-town tryout for Shrek: The Musical, and we had an emergency landing in Chicago. This would have been in 2008. In layman's terms—and I certainly am paraphrasing; I don't want to get anyone in trouble, including myself—it was my understanding that the electrical system malfunctioned onboard, so the pilots had to do a manual landing. I remember sleeping onboard and waking up because it was getting very hot. I looked up and the lights were dark. They tried to keep everyone calm and told us that we’d be landing in Chicago.
I didn't really realize how serious it was until we were coming in. I remember thinking, “We're coming in fast." And when we landed on the tarmac, we skidded off, a tire blew, and we stopped in the grass. The enormity of it hit me when I saw, as wide as my peripheral vision could see, a line of emergency vehicles charging the plane. And it was only then that I realized, “My goodness, this is pretty serious.”
So we all deboarded and luckily, everyone and everything was fine. But one of my castmates, multiple Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster, was on board and I remember—because I always use dark humor to cope with things—saying to myself, “I'm glad we didn't die because the headline would have read ‘Sutton Foster and others perish’ and I would have been relegated to ‘and others.’” That would have been the way I went.
Rapid Fire
Window, middle, or aisle seat?
Window all day, everyday. I love having the wall. I don't love people brushing up against me when they walk up and down the aisle. Sometimes I love to look out the window, but I really love the wall because it helps me sleep. I'm a very good sleeper on an airplane.
Pack light or overpack?
I pack light. In my youth I overpacked, but I have learned through the years that you think you're going to need X, Y, or Z for every occasion, blah, blah, blah. You end up wearing the same things over and over again. That's my experience with travel.
So, I'm very much in favor of a day to evening look. And I'm very into stuff that's comfortable but looks fancy and fabrics that don't wrinkle. I've gotten very wise about how I pack.
Favorite way to pass time on a plane
I will just cue podcasts up and listen to those over and over again. Or I'll always bring a good book.
Biggest travel fear
Because of that emergency landing situation, I have a fear of flying.
Best tip for fighting jet lag
Hydration. Don't order booze and caffeinated drinks on the plane. Hydrate.
Favorite travel snack
I usually order some sort of nut.
Go-to drink order on a plane
Usually, I like carbonated water. And whether it's a placebo or not, my mother always enjoyed just tomato juice on a plane. So I will usually order a tomato juice. I think it's an old wive’s tale that’s been debunked, but it's been said that it can help you with jet lag.
Travel Must Haves
This is really not as exciting, but I always have less drowsy Dramamine in my bag because you never know how choppy the flight's going to be with turbulence.
I love to have a book with me on a flight and I'm in between a few right now. I'm reading Mind Hunter by John E. Douglas—it was a Netflix series. It’s about one of the original creators of the FBI’s behavioral science unit. I'm also reading Randall Kennedy's book Interracial Intimacies. And I'm reading R.H. Sin's The Year of Letting Go.
I learned this from a video I saw of flight attendant hacks for how to pack. So those horizontal Thursday, Friday, Saturday pill cases, they're individually compartmentalized. Put your jewelry in one of those, so you can separate your earrings from your necklaces from your bracelets. And they're so small. It's genius!