Vanessa Hudgens Smashes ‘Grease: Live’ Debut Hours After Father’s Death

Without getting too cloy about it, in the entertainment business,  sometimes the show really must go on. Doubly so when that show is a production as huge as FOX’s Grease: Live, a new, televised rendition of the actual play.

The world on-stage doesn’t give a damn about the world of its actors, though. Vanessa Hudgens, slated to play Rizzo, lost her father Greg to cancer less than 24 hours before the show went live. 

What’s an actor to do?

If you’re Hudgens, the answer was simple, but unthinkably difficult: knock the role out of the fucking park.

Even to total newcomers to the production, it’s apparent a portrayal so strong, coming from someone who’d just experienced tremendous loss, is something incredible indeed. Pay attention to these final lyrics, why doncha: “But to cry in front of you, that’s the worst thing I could do”:


Social media commentary imitated intermission chatter too, and we imagine the content was identical.  Users absolutely went out of their way to commend the actress on her portrayal:

Her classmate in that other High School Musical, Ashley Tisdale, came through with the support too.

FWIW, the professional reviewers thought she did a bang-up job too regardless of the circumstances, commending her performance alongside those from Carly-Rae Jepsen, Julianne Hough and Jessie J. 

Applause all around, Hudgens. 

Source: Vanity Fair. 
Photo: FOX / Getty. 

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