This past Sunday, FOX aired a live production of the hit musical, Grease. With over 12 million viewers that night, it just proves even more that the live musicals NBC and FOX have been producing won’t lose popularity anytime soon.
But besides the amazing cinematography under the direction of Hamilton‘s Thomas Kail, the star-studded cast and incorporation of multiple soundstages with live audiences- what really stole the show were the ladies (duh!).
Julianne Hough
Hough has proved she has the singing voice from her performance in the movie adaption of Rock of Ages as she took on the main character Sandy, originally played by Olivia Newton-John. One of her best scenes was when she was trying out for the cheer team and got to show off her amazing dance moves. The Dancing with the Stars pro is exactly that, a professional, when it comes to the choreography in the show. But Sandy’s show-stopping tune, ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’, let Hough show off her equally amazing vocals! Watch it below.
Keke Palmer
It seems like we’ve been able to grow up with Palmer, as she’s gone from True Jackson VP to Jump In! and more recently with Scream Queens. Now she’s portraying the role of Marty, and adds the perfect amount of sass to the hilarious character while also while making it her own. She’s hilarious as she flirts with Mario Lopez’s character, Vince Fontane and completely kills her song ‘Freddy My Love’, a song from the Broadway production left out of the movie.
Carly Rae Jepsen
Not many people know this, but Jepsen has actually been on Broadway before! No stranger to theater, she played Cinderella back in 2014. This time, she takes on Frenchy, the nicest Pink Lady who immediately befriends Sandy. In this production, a brand new song was written for the character before the Teen Angels (played by Boyz II Men!) came out to sing ‘Beauty School Dropout’ in the diner! What’s even better was the original Frenchy, Didi Conn, made a cameo as Vi, the waitress at the diner who helps Frenchy.
Elle McLemore
McLemore was a fan favorite, after portraying one of the Heathers in the off-Broadway production of Heathers the Musical. This time, she played Patty Simcox and in this production she received more screen time since Patty plays a bigger role in the stage version than the movie version. Her hilarious cheerleading routines and dancing with Eugene were great comedic relief and she didn’t disappoint!
Vanessa Hudgens
Just- wow. Hudgens proved she could play the bad girl just as well as she plays the good girl (Gabriella from High School Musical, of course!). When it was announced her father just passed away a day before the live performance, many were concerned how it would affect the show, but Hudgens quickly tweeted to reassure fans that she would still be performing, in honor of her father. There was even a touching tribute added at the end of the telecast. But let’s talk about Hudgens’ real show stopper- Rizzo’s ‘There Are Worse Things I Could Do’ is always a fan-favorite and she knocked it out of the ballpark! It’s not a surprise that she is talented but she definitely proved everyone wrong by putting on a spectacular performance as theater’s greatest bad girl and sassiest Pink Lady all while struggling through such a traumatic event.