Click the Play Button Below ⬇️ (in the center of the video) to watch Jodi Benson's NEW interview.  

I’m beyond excited to reconnect with the legendary Jodi Benson, our first conversation since 2018, when Jodi honored composer Alan Menken at New York City’s iconic Carnegie Hall.

Audiences around the world know Jodi as the unforgettable voice of Ariel in Disney’s Academy Award Winning feature film, The Little Mermaid, and more recently as Iris Maddox, Cal’s mom, in Season 4 of Sweet Magnolias.

I’m thrilled to once again be part of Jodi’s world as she prepares to star in, and close out, one of my favorite Off Broadway plays, Pen Pals, written by Michael Griffo.

In this NEW interview, Jodi answered my call once again, but this time around, sharing insights on:

• Landing her role in Pen Pals
• What the show reveals about friendship
• Why playing Bernie, in Pen Pals, is the perfect fit for Jodi
• How Jodi's real-life bond with co-star Marcia Mitzman Gaven mirrors their onstage friendship
• The enduring legacy of The Little Mermaid
• Ariel’s lasting impact on fans
• And much more

Connect with Jodi: Website, Facebook, Instagram

Pen Pals is a deeply moving, one-of-a-kind theatrical experience about friendship, time, and the power of human connection. Told over decades and brought to life by a rotating cast of celebrated actors, every performance is unique, no two shows are ever the same.

Bernie and Mags have never met. They live in different countries. And yet, for more than fifty years, they have been inseparable. Through handwritten letters, they share their lives in full—the mundane and the monumental, the laughter and the loss, the secrets they’ve never spoken aloud. From teenage dreams to adult realities, their bond grows stronger with every passing year.

Jodi Benson & Marcia Mitzman Gaven will be starring in & closing out Pen Pals from March 4-15, 2026 at the Daryl Roth DR2 Theatre in NYC. Click Here for tickets!

More Jodi Benson Interviews:

2018 (Read Here): Singing with Ariel, The Little Mermaid at Carnegie Hall 

More on Jodi Benson:

Jodi is blessed and honored to be the recipient of the prestigious Disney Legend Award and proud to serve The Walt Disney Company for the past 38 amazing years. Jodi has received worldwide recognition as the beloved singing and speaking voice of Ariel in the Academy Award winning Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid as well as the bubbly voice of Barbie in Disney Pixar's Toy Story II (Golden Globe Best Animated Film) and the Academy Award winning film, Toy Story 3 as the effervescent voice of Barbie for Disney/Pixar. She also gave life to the spirited Weebo in Disney’s live action Flubber co- starring the brilliant Robin Williams. 

Jodi returned as Ariel with all of the Disney Princesses for the first time ever in Disney's hit Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet. For Warner Brothers, she created the title voice of Thumbelina and Jodi made a special cameo appearance in the new live action feature for Disney's The Little Mermaid. Jodi’s other film projects include The Little Mermaid III, The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea as Ariel, Lady and The Tramp II as Lady, 101 Dalmatians II as Anita, DreamWorks’s animated video Joseph: King of Dreams as his wife Asenath and in Balto II and III as Jenna.

She appears as Sam, (Patrick Dempsey’s Assistant) in Disney’s feature film Enchanted. Jodi was honored to introduce the Emmy nominated 30th Anniversary celebration The Little Mermaid Live ABC television special event. She currently stars as Ariel in the Lego Princess Series of movies for Disney+.

Jodi Benson as Ariel
Disney's The Little Mermaid

Jodi received a Tony Award and a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for  creating the starring role of Polly Baker in the Tony Award winning Broadway Gershwin musical Crazy For You.

Jodi was thrilled to recently star as Rose in Gypsy in upstate NY playing opposite her daughter, Delaney, starring as Louise. This was their second time performing Gypsy together in these iconic mother-daughter roles. Jodi also starred as Dolly Levi in Hello,Dolly! to sold out crowds at Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando. 

Other Broadway credits include: creating the starring role of Doria Hudson in the Howard Ashman/Marvin  Hamlisch musical Smile, Betty Bursteter in Cy Coleman’s Welcome To The Club, and Virginia in Kenny Ortega’s Marilyn: An American Fable. 

Internationally, Jodi has had the honor of sharing the stage with her husband Ray Benson in the European Premiere of Gershwin’s My One and Only, starring as Miss Edythe Herbert. 

Currently, Jodi just wrapped Season 5 of the Netflix hit series, Sweet Magnolias as the character of Iris Maddox, Cal’s Mom after guest starring in Season 4.

Justin Bruening & Jodi Benson (Cal & Iris Maddox)
Netflix's Sweet Magnolias Season 4
Photo Courtesy of Jodi Benson's Social Media

Her animated television series include starring as Nia in Wingfeather Saga (Angel Studios), Disney’s Sofia The First - The Floating Palace (Queen Emmaline & Ariel), Cartoon Network's Emmy Award winning hit Camp Lazlo as the voices of Patsy Smiles, Jane Doe and Almondine, the Emmy Award winning The Little Mermaid, Pepper Ann, Pirates of Dark Water (Hanna-Barbera), P.J. Sparkles, Disney’s Hercules as Helen of Troy, Batman Beyond, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Wild Thornberry’s and many others. 

On the concert stage, Jodi recently performed for her fifth time at the incredible Hollywood Bowl with  Disney’s 80s-90s Celebration, starred in The Little Mermaid Live in Concert to Film also at the Hollywood  Bowl to sold out crowds of 18,000 fans and in Tokyo & Osaka with the brilliant Alan Menken. She fulfilled her childhood dream by singing at Carnegie Hall with the illustrious New York Pops.

Jodi had the honor of appearing as the guest soloist at the Kennedy Center Honors for Miss Ginger Rogers. Jodi has performed with symphonies all over the world including The Philly Pops (Conductor Peter Nero), The National Symphony (Conductor Marvin Hamlisch), Toronto, Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo Philharmonic, San Francisco and Chicago. 

Jodi is honored to be the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company, Disney Cruise Line,  ambassador for feature animation, narrator for Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World and a member of the Disney family. She is thrilled to accept her new position with the Company as the D23 Fan Ambassador.

Jodi has her book available Part of My World with behind the scenes, inside stories, which highlight the many amazing people along her journey.

Jodi gives thanks and praise to God for her family, friends, for her loving husband of 41 years, Ray, and her amazing children; daughter Delaney and son McKinley & his wife Mackenzie.