The 23rd annual Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on October 28-30, 2022. The Baltimore Comic-Con has announced the addition of media guests Jodi Benson, Judy Kuhn, Linda Larkin, and Paige O’Hara. Tickets for admission and VIP experiences are now available online!
Jodi Benson is honored and blessed to be the recipient of the prestigious Disney Legends Award having served the company for 33 amazing years. Jodi has received worldwide recognition as the beloved, original voice of Ariel in the Academy Award winning Disney film The Little Mermaid. She continues to bring Ariel to life as well as the bubbly voice of Barbie in Disney/Pixar’s Golden Globe winner Toy Story 2 and Oscar winning Toy Story 3. Other films: Flubber (Weebo), star of Thumbelina, Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, The Little
Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Lady and the Tramp II (Lady) and as Patrick Dempsey’s assistant Sam, in Disney’s Enchanted – as a real person with legs! Ms. Benson returned as Ariel with all of the Disney Princesses for the first time ever in Disney’s recent hit Wreck it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Ms. Benson received nominations for the Tony Award and Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress in a Musical for originating Polly Baker in the Tony Award winning Gershwin musical Crazy For You. Other Broadway credits include creating the starring role of Doria Hudson in the Howard Ashman-Marvin Hamlisch musical Smile and others.
Her animated TV series include the Emmy-winning Camp Lazlo, The Little Mermaid, Sofia The First (Disney) and many others.
On the concert stage, Ms. Benson starred in the World Premiere of The Little Mermaid Live in Concert to Film at The Hollywood Bowl to a sold out crowd of 18,000 fans per night for 3 concerts, as well as sold out performances in Tokyo and Osaka with the brilliant Alan Menken, a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. She fulfilled her childhood dream by singing at Carnegie Hall with the illustrious New York Pops under the direction of Steven Reineke. Jodi has performed with symphonies all over the world, including The Boston Pops, The Philly Pops (conductor: Peter Nero), The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (conductor: John Mauceri), The National Symphony (conductor: Marvin Hamlisch), Tokyo, San Francisco, and Chicago Symphonies, to name a few.
Jodi was thrilled to be a part of the christening ceremonies and inaugural cruises for 3 of our Disney cruise ships. Ms. Benson is honored to be the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line, ambassador for feature animation and a member of the Disney family for all these wonderful years.
Ms. Benson is always so thrilled to narrate the Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World, and has joyfully participated for over 11 years. It is truly one of her most favorite Disney experiences to be a part of and holds such a special place in her heart.
Jodi gives thanks to God for her loving husband, Ray, and amazing children, son, McKinley and daughter, Delaney.
Judy Kuhn is a four-time Tony Award nominee who’s work on Broadway includes the 2016 revival of Fiddler on the Roof; Fun Home (Tony and Drama League Award Nominations); the Roundabout’s 1993 revival of She Loves Me (Tony Award Nomination); Richard Nelson’s Two Shakespearean Actors (Lincoln Center Theatre); Chess (Tony and Drama Desk Nominations); Les Miserables (Tony and Drama Desk Nominations); Rags (Drama Desk Nomination); Alan Menken and Tim Rice’s King David, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (original cast). Off-Broadway and Regional theatre includes: Fun Home at the Public Theater (Lucille Lortell Award); The Cradle Will Rock (City Center); Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Passion at CSC directed by John Doyle (Drama League Award Nomination); the U.S. premiere of Sunset Boulevard (Los Angeles) Three Sisters (Intiman Theatre), Eli’s Comin’ (Obie Award), The Ballad of Little Jo (Steppenwolf Theatre Co./Jeff Award Nomination), Dream True (Vineyard Theatre), As Thousands Cheer (Drama Dept.); and The Glass Menagerie (McCarter Theatre).
Most recently, Judy appeared in John Doyle’s production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins at CSC, and in 2019, she starred in Trevor Nunn’s critically-acclaimed revival of Fiddler on the Roof in London’s West End, for which she received her 2nd Laurence Olivier Award Nomination.
Judy sang the title role in Disney’s Pocahontas as well as the in the sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World. Other film and television appearances include: Enchanted, Elementary (CBS) Hope and Faith (ABC), Law and Order (NBC), All My Children (ABC), The Secret Life of Mary Margaret… (HBO), My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies (PBS), The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS), The Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert (PBS), In Performance At The White House (PBS).
Judy has performed on concert stages around the world including appearances at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall,, The Hollywood Bowl, and the The Royal Albert Hall. She can be heard on numerous original cast recordings as well as her four solo CD’s: Rodgers, Rodgers, and Guettel (PS Classics); All This Happiness; Serious Playground:The Songs of Laura Nyro (Sh-K-Boom), and Just In Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne.
Linda Larkin is the speaking voice of Princess Jasmine in Walt Disney’s classic animated feature film, Aladdin.
Ms. Larkin can also be heard as Princess Jasmine in the critically acclaimed Kingdom Hearts video game series, Disney Junior’s Sofia the First, and Walt Disney Studios’ animated feature Ralph Breaks the Internet.
From read-along story books, Jasmine toys, and interactive educational tools, to Disney on Ice and Tokyo Disney’s Aladdin theme park attraction, Ms. Larkin’s voice can be heard wherever Princess Jasmine appears.
Ms. Larkin has provided the voice for Princess Jasmine in every Aladdin sequel and spin-off, including The Return of Jafar, Aladdin and The King of Thieves, and the Emmy-nominated 100-episode Aladdin television series.
In 2011, Ms. Larkin was honored with the Disney Legends Award, recognizing her for her extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Paige O’Hara is widely known as Belle in the Oscar-winning animated film Beauty and the Beast. Her Broadway appearances include playing Ellie May Chipley in Showboat; as Fantine in Les Miserables, and as Edwin Drood in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She starred as Nellie Forbush in the Australian tour of South Pacific and reprised the role opposite Robert Goulet in the States. As a concert soloist, Paige has guest-starred at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Boston Pops, and toured Japan with the Tokyo Philharmonic. Paige’s many recordings include Grammy-nominated Showboat, Of Thee I Sing, Sitting Pretty, Mack and Mabel in Concert, and South Pacific. Paige is currently working on a series of original paintings called Belles by Belle for Disney Fine Art – Collectors Editions, and her work can be seen in Las Vegas at the Magical Memories Gallery in The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.
Source: Graphic Policy
