Butler toured with the musical Oklahoma! in Europe in the role of Ado Annie. Other New York roles included Vicki in the workshop of Bright Lights, Big City, Barrow in The "I" Word and Claudia in The Folsom Head. She also has done work on various commercials.
Butler made her Broadway debut in 1993 in the role of Ms. Jones in the musical Blood Brothers, where she also understudied the role of Linda. In 1995, Butler originated the role of Belle for the Toronto production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, where she was nominated for the DORA Award for her performance, and eventually transferred to Broadway. After playing Belle for over two years, she left the musical in September 1997 and was replaced by Debbie Gibson. She then moved over to Les Misérables to play Eponine.
In 2001, Butler played the love interest Shelley in the acclaimed Off Broadway original musical Bat Boy: The Musical. Though the show had a "fanatical following," Butler noted that "We were really building an audience before Sept. 11. And after that we never recovered. People didn't want to go out at all, let alone downtown." Bat Boy closed in December 2001.