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Vanessa Hudgens Thanks Fans For Support After Emotional ‘Grease: Live’ Performance And Her Dad’s Death

By Lawrence Arboleda
Published on: 19:21 PST, Feb 1, 2016

Vanessa Hudgens just blew everyone away as Rizzo in Fox’s Grease: Live on Sunday.

Vanessa was even more awe-inspiring on account of how she delivered an inspired performance despite having discovered just a day before that her father, Greg, had died of cancer. She also did it in front of a live audience too.

The last few days have been emotional for Miss Hudgens. But on Monday, People reported that the High School Musical star took to Twitter to express her gratitude to fans and friends for the overwhelming support they had given her on the night of the Grease: Live performance.

“I can’t believe @gogrease is OVER! Grand opening and grand closing. Thank you to everyone who watched & supported me last night. Doing #greaselive was one of the most incredible experiences and I’m so glad you guys liked it as much as I did. Till next time Rizz… ?? #pinkladyforlife.”

After the performances on Sunday night, Grease: Live received a ton of positive reviews from fans and critics alike. Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times described Grease: Live as “a spectacle” and a production piece that “raised the bar.” Variety’s Maureen Ryan said that the live show was “sweet and tasty” as a root beer float. Jeremy Gerard of Deadline said that Grease: Live was “revolutionary.” Zach Seemayer of ET remarked that in terms of living up to its predecessor, Grease: Live “came through with flying colors.”

Sure enough, it was a night of incredible live performances. Julliane Hough wowed everyone as Sandy, especially when she sang the Olivia Newton-John original, “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” Aaron Tveit did John Travolta proud by nailing every line and dance number as well as rocking the tight tees his character Danny is famous for.

But the brightest star of the night was Vanessa Hudgens, whose acting ability and singing were simply stellar the entire night. Vanessa’s rendition of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” was poignant, powerful, and emotional. Many feel that it was the best performance of the night. You can see for yourself by watching the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsXNyb44Jw

Grease: Live’s executive producer, Marc Platt, was effusive in his praise for Vanessa Hudgen’s performance.

“It was incredibly brave of her. She’s a professional, but she’s also a human being and a daughter. She knew that she had to put that in a box for a few hours and use it to fuel her performance… Her performance speaks for itself. We were all very proud of her and send love to her family.”

Costar Keke Palmer, who did a scintillating performance of “Freddy My Love,” had great things to say about Vanessa after the show.

“To see her grace – that’s the kind of thing that ended up bringing a lot of tears to our eyes,” she told Entertainment Tonight.

Many celebrities took to Twitter to express their admiration and respect for the strength Vanessa showed in her performances last night.

Vanessa Hudgens announced the death of his father via Twitter on Sunday, adding that she would dedicate her performance in his honor.

“I am so sad to say that last night my daddy, Greg passed away from stage 4 cancer,” she tweeted.

When Grease: Live ended, the ending credits paid tribute to Vanessa Hudgens’s father.

“In loving memory of Greg Hudgens. June 22, 1950 – January 30, 2016,” the tribute read.

You did your dad proud, Vanessa. Take a bow.

[Image via Fox/YouTube]

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