Disney Legend Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid, is set to perform in Orlando to this weekend in a concert paying tribute to Marvin Hamlisch. As the Orlando Sentinel reports, Benson will join Scarlett Strallen, Doug LaBrecque, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra for “A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch: One Singular Sensation” this Saturday, April 1st.
Before she was Ariel, Benson performed in the short-lived Broadway show Smile, which Hamlisch composed music for. “Marvin was really funny — a great sense of humor, a team player, never a diva. And he was a genius,” Benson said of the composer, who passed away in 2012. Hamlisch’s awards back up Benson’s claims as he is won an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer Prize. Some of his best-known credits include A Chorus Line, The Way We Were, and The Sting.
Despite all that, Benson says Hamlisch, had “tremendous humility.” She added, “He was kind of a kid at heart, and I think that was what was so charming about him. He didn’t have a clue as to the tremendous talent he had.”
“A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch: One Singular Sensation” will perform at the Bob Carr Theater in Orlando Saturday, April 1st at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit OrlandoPhil.org.