Vanessa Hudgens Praised By 'Grease: Live' Producer for Doing the Show After Dad's Death

The executive producer of Grease: Live, Marc Platt, has opened up about star Vanessa Hudgens‘ decision to perform in the musical despite her father’s tragic passing.

Marc spoke with Variety and praised her, “It was incredibly brave of her. She’s a professional, but she’s also a human being and a daughter. I looked at her in the eyes and said can you do this? I think your dad would want you to do this, and she said she knew that he would.”

“She knew that she had to do it. She knew that she had to put that in a box for a few hours and use it to fuel her performance. We asked her if her family would come. And they came to the show and watched in a trailer live on the Warners lot. I was with her mom. I think it was for all of them a very cathartic experience given the brutality of the circumstances. Her performance speaks for itself. We were all very proud of her and send her love to her family,” Marc added.

“At the 11th hour I asked her if we could honor her dad and the memory of her dad in that way and she was very touched by it. Fox jumped on and Paramount and we put it in the last moment. We were happy to do so. The performance was indeed dedicated to his memory,” Marc added about the decision to honor Greg Hudgens at the end of the broadcast.