Video: Original LITTLE MERMAID Star Jodi Benson Sings Stripped-Back 'Part of Your World'
Benson – who voiced the role of Ariel in the 1989 film – celebrated Disney Princess Week by performing the song a cappella.
By: Michael Major Aug. 26, 2025
Original The Little Mermaid star Jodi Benson joined the Counter-Melodies Podcast co-hosts Jonathan Tilkin and Anthony Gargiula for a stripped-back rendition of "Part of Your World" from the hit animated movie musical. Benson – who voiced the role of Ariel in the 1989 film – celebrated Disney Princess Week by performing the song a cappella in their kitchen.
@anthony_gargiula i can’t believe we got to sing with Ariel herself, @Jodi Benson ?? @jonathantilkin ? so excited to be celebrating #worldprincessweek this week!! ?#thelittlemermaid #disney #partofyourworld #disneyprincesscreateyourworld
♬ original sound - Anthony Gargiula
Tony-winner Nicole Scherzinger previously joined Tilkin and Gargiula to perform "Never Enough" from The Greatest Showman.
Benson made her Broadway debut in the 1983 Kenny Ortega-directed "Marilyn: An American Fable". Other Broadway credits include a starring role in the 1986 Broadway musical Smile, where she introduced a song called "Disneyland". In 1987, Howard Ashman, the lyricist of Smile, would go on to write the lyrics for The Little Mermaid.In 1989, Benson appeared in the Broadway musical, Welcome to the Club, alongside Samuel E. Wright, who performed the voice for Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid.
In 1992, Benson received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Polly Baker in Crazy For You. She played the narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1998.
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