With a melancholy, dejected sigh, Jodi Benson’s Ariel sings the words in the 1989 animated classic “The Little Mermaid,” as if the song were a plea the ocean princess had spoken too many times to count. Halle Bailey, who plays the part that a million wannabe princes and princesses sang along to, assaults the song’s finale with a forceful ascending vibrato and maintains it long after the orchestra stops playing in Disney’s live-action adaptation, which debuts on May 26. The song’s queries take on a new sense of urgency, as if this Ariel, her Ariel, were in need of solutions.
And maybe she is. The multi-hyphenate talent has faced a slew of obstacles in embracing her own turn, her first significant film role and her first project apart from her sister, Chlöe Bailey: a technically demanding shoot, a protective fan base, racist abuse, and the demands of adding dimension to a beloved character, sometimes without being able to say a word.
Bailey performed “Part of Your World” at her audition for the role of Ariel in early 2019. It’s understandable that Bailey’s performance is laced with heavenly riffs and deliberate voice cracks. In a recent interview with The Times, she reflected on her excitement for the event, saying, “I was so nervous to be there, so a lot of those nuances were just me trying to get my nerves out, and allowing myself to be free and be myself.”
Director Rob Marshall started crying after she was done. She was the first candidate we saw for the position, and he commented that she really raised the bar. “You got a deep understanding of what Ariel wants when she sang, you believe the stakes are high, and you just root for her to succeed,” she said.
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