Vanessa Hudgens managed to sing, dance and charm her way through Grease: Live last night, despite dealing with some incredibly tragic news.
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The Broadway alum and High School Musical star has confirmed that she will perform as Rizzo on Grease: Live tonight in his honor.
The actress’ 65-year-old father, Greg, lost his battle with cancer on Saturday night (30Jan16). “Thank you to everyone who kept him in your prayers”.
Sure, NBC was the first network to try to make theater cool again, but Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, Vanessa Hudgens, and the rest of the cast really shined on Sunday night, blowing us away visually, technically, and sonically.
Fox’s live TV musical overcame technical glitches, a rare Los Angeles rainstorm and the death of a key cast member’s father to score rave reviews on social media and elsewhere. Two years later, she jump-started her acting career by playing a supporting role in Burlesque with Christina Aguilera and Cher. But rather than leave it to the understudy, she dedicated the performance to her father, and certainly from watching her onstage, she seemed to radiate energy and determination.
The role of Rizzo was immortalized in 1978 by actress Stockard Channing, and her tough-as-nails exterior held special meaning for Hudgens on Sunday night.
The telecast moved effectively from girls’ talk in a bedroom to Palmer owning a runway on “Freddy My Love” and from “All I Need Is an Angel” to a production number with Boyz II Men on “Beauty School Dropout“. “And, let me tell you, I hate cancer”.
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As well co-star Mario Lopez, who played Vince Fontaine, gave Vanessa props for her performance. On Grease: Live. 15th billed. Live TV has been around for a while, but no one has taken advantage of the format quite the way Grease: Live did. We know that “50s accuracy is not what anyone comes to a production of Grease for, but the guitar player couldn’t put a wig on over his Mohawk?” There were audio problems during “Born to Hand Jive” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You”. Hough at least looked the part, but I wasn’t buying any bad boy from Tveit. Luckily, everyone gets through the fender bender, and the cast ends “We Go Together” and the production with a flourish.
